Chance
by Litl A
Summary: Chance only takes you so far before you have to go the rest of the way on your own. How do you know what to do? What if you don't know what to do?
1. The Kind Stranger

Y'all know the deal...The Fast and The Furious and its characters do not belong to me. The only character that does belong to me is...well, the kind stranger.

This happens while the **whole **team is returning from Mexico.

-----

****

Chapter One

The Kind Stranger

"What can I get you?" she asked, a real smile on her face. The two old men looked at her over their menus and smiled back. She tugged at her belt loops, pulling up her pants and laughed, knowing exactly what to do. "How 'bout I start y'all off with a cup o' joe?" The two men nodded and she winked at them before walking off.

She stopped at the next table and smiled. "What'll you have?" she asked the three older gentlemen and their companion, an older woman.

"We'll all have some tea," the woman answered for all of them.

"OK, be right back." She walked behind the counter and put her order pad down. "Gimme a pot of coffee and a pot of hot water," she told the guy working behind the counter with her. He turned around and smiled at her, raising a questioning eyebrow. "Don't make me repeat myself," she warned. Blue-eyes, as she had fondly called him, handed her a black carafe and a white one. "Thank you," she said, taking them from him and grabbing a handful of tea bags.

Quickly she made her way back to the table with the four people and placed the white carafe and tea bags on their booth. She smiled brightly and took their orders, killing them with sweetness. Then she turned and did the same at the table with two old men. When she was done, she handed her order tickets to the cook and leaned against the counter.

"Hey, Blondie," someone called. She turned around and scanned the floor. At a table in the far corner a man with salt and pepper hair had his hand raised in the air, trying to wave her down. "Blondie, over here."

She smiled and nodded, walking to the corner to sit in the booth. "What can I do for you, Cap'n?" she asked, throwing her arm around the man.

"Sit with us for a while," he told her, pointing to the equally gray woman across from him.

She looked over the floor at all the packed tables and shook her head. "But I can't, Pop. It's busy."

"Ray'll run your food out. No one else will be coming in, it's one thirty in the morning. Everyone in town is in here." As soon as the captain finished speaking the bell over the door rang.

"You spoke too soon, Cap," she told him, sliding out of the both. The three of them shared a laugh as she turned to face the door. Five very attractive men stood in the doorway, looking around cautiously. "This all a y'all?" she asked, making sure to look at each one of them. All five of them snapped their gaze to her.

-----

The name-tag on her shirt read "BLONDIE" and Leon wondered briefly whether or not it was her real name. He looked up at the girl's face and smiled. She was a vision: long, wavy blond hair, bright emerald green eyes, and the perfect body from what he could tell. She was skinny with the right size chest, her shirt revealing nothing, and she had nice long legs.

"Is this all of y'all?" she repeated, her Southern drawl making her sound cuter. "The five of you?"

"There's seven of us," Dom said finally. "The other two are out parking."

Blondie grabbed seven menus and motioned for them to follow her. "Good luck finding a spot," she said, placing the menus on a large table. "This is the busiest night of the week." When all of them were seated she continued: "Do you want something to drink now? Or would you rather wait for the other two?"

"We'll wait?" Dom told her flatly.

"Well, I'll be right over there. In that booth." She pointed behind herself. "You need me, just call my name."

"Blondie?" Brian asked skeptically.

"That's me." She walked over to a booth with an older couple and put her arm around the shoulders of the man. "Hey, Cappy," Leon heard her say.

"We need to find a place to spend the weekend," Vince told Dominic.

"When the girls get in here, we'll ask Blondie if she knows any place close," was his answer.

Leon looked over at Jesse, who looked tired. The medication that the poor kid was on had him asleep more than he was awake. At that moment, Leon was positive that the entire team needed a caffeine fix. Sitting at some bar in the middle of the night was not something that should be part of the game plan. Even if it meant that he'd have some time to ogle some girl's goodies. But stopping at some dive for old men in the center of Nowhere, Texas was only wasting time. They had a long trip home.

A bell rang and absolutely **everyone** in the place looked up. Letty and Mia spotted them and made their way over. "Man, Dom." Mia said as she slid into the booth next to Brian. "You sure do know how to pick the most secluded places."

"That way no one'll recognize us," he answered and Leon smiled.

"Yeah, we don't have any wanna be racers coming up to us," V finished for him.

"Whadda ya say we have some coffee?" Letty finally spoke up, leaning her elbows on the table.

"Sounds like a plan," Jesse mumbled from beside Leon.

-----

"Hey, Blondie?" Brian called, and Mia watched as Leon straightened ever so slightly. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a girl stand up from some booth and make her way over to them.

"Everybody accounted for?" the waitress asked, smiling politely. Mia immediately went to work scrutinizing the girl's looks. She was tall, green eyes, small waist, fairly large chest, long **long** legs, and fake blond hair.

"We'll have a pot of coffee." Dom spoke and girl walked away.

"Oh, her hair is **so** fake," Mia told everyone in a whisper.

"OK, miss fashion is everything," Letty started, "maybe there's a reason."

"Here y'all go," the girl said, placing a black carafe on the table. She stood up straight and asked, "Is there anything else I can get you?"

"Do you know any motels close to here? Or maybe even a hotel?" Vince asked. The girl covered her mouth and tried to hold in her laughter.

After realizing that it wasn't a joke, she quickly sobered up. "You're serious? Oh, I'm sorry." Blondie took a deep breath and let it out. "OK, do you have a map or anything?" she asked, looking at Dom.

"No."

"Why?" Letty asked.

"Well, 'cause if you look at this place on a map, then go out about two hundred miles and draw a circle around here. You will definitely not find any hotels or motels within that circle," she drawled in her Southern accent.

"Damn, Dom, you sure did pick the right place," Leon grumbled. "Do you know of any Inns that are around here? One that'll have a couple rooms open for the weekend?" he asked the waitress.

She bit her lower lip and looked down at the floor, thinking. Suddenly she snapped her head up and smiled. "There is one about ten miles west of here."

"Yes! Good if you could just give us the directions-?" Mia felt herself ask, she wanted more than anything to get away from the people in this bar. They were giving her the creeps.

"Another round o' Wild Turkey, Blondie! On me!" Some guy at the counter shouted out and the waitress cringed.

"Sorry. You won't be getting a room there tonight," she told the group.

"And why not?" Letty asked indignantly.

The girl cracked her knuckles and pointed to the man that had just shouted. "See that man over there? He owns that Inn, and well, he closed up about an hour ago."

Brian put his arm around Mia and spoke up. "Well, we could always go talk to him."

"George ain't gonna do business with you folks."

"And why not?" Dom asked gruffly.

"I just served him his fifteenth shot of the night. He's too far gone." The girl looked around. "Tell you what...I'll ask around, see if anyone's got any room." She turned around and started to walk away, but stopped short and looked at them. "By the way, y'all wouldn't be interested in a round o' Wild Turkey?" she asked. "George's treat?"

"We'll pass," Vince said flatly.

"Suit ya selves."

-----

Letty followed the girl with her eyes, wondering what it must've been like growing up in a place so far from civilization. She watched as the girl poured everyone a shot of liquor, smiling and laughing with the customers, as if she had known them her whole life. When Blondie was done pouring drinks, she sat down at the table across from them with an old couple.

"Hey, Blondie?" Dom called and Letty frowned at him. The poor girl had just gotten off of her feet. She came over to them and smiled politely. "Did you happen to find any place for us?" Blondie shook her head solemnly.

"What are you looking for?" the old man that the waitress was sitting with asked.

"They're looking for a place to stay for the weekend," the girl called over her shoulder.

"Why not let them stay at the flat?"

Blondie's eyes lit up and she smiled. "I didn't even think about that, Cappy." She looked over at the team. "You guys are more than welcome to come stay at my flat for the weekend."

"You don't even know us," Mia said, always the voice of reason.

"I know that you are seven folks far from home, with no place to stay. And I also know that I have a flat with four extra beds and a fold-out couch. That's all I need to know."

"Hey, look, we finally met someone as nice as Mia," Letty said and the team laughed in response.

"That's very nice, but we couldn't possibly intrude on your privacy," Dom said, and Letty knew he was hoping that the topic would be dropped.

"Look," the girl said, shrugging her shoulders. "You wanna spend the **entire** night in your cars, and wait until around noon tomorrow when George is getting over his hangover? That's fine, but the invitation stands."

"Don't forget about the front moving in!" A man from another booth chimed in. 

"Thank you, Ernie." Blondie put her hands on her hips. "And there's a storm moving in. Which reminds me: Everyone!" The entire place went silent. "Last call was the last round of Wild Turkey! Start calling the cabs!" A few moans and groans went up, a couple people even yelled at her, but the waitress ignored them. "It'll be here in like an hour, so you can sleep in your cars and deal with the storm. Or you can come home with me. Room and board's free and so's the grub." She walked away, tossing over her shoulder, "Your choice."

"We might as well do it, Dom," Letty told him, knowing full well that she was the only one he'd listen to. "I don't know about you, but I don't feel like sleeping in my car."

"All right, all right. We'll stay at this chick's place," he conceded finally. Letty watched at Leon's smile widened. When he caught her looking at him he sobered up.

The bar patrons had left quickly, emptying the place in a shockingly short amount of time. Blondie came back over about fifteen minutes later, a dishrag over her shoulder. "Have y'all decided?"

"We'll stay at your place, but only if you don't mind," Dom told her.

"Ray, I'm leaving. Don't work too late," she called to the blonde guy behind the counter. "Meet me out front in two minutes," she told them. "I'ma go 'round back and get my pickup."

-----

"Why am I not surprised that she drives a pickup?" Vince asked as they all walked out of the bar. He knew it sounded harsh, but who really cared.

"Maybe it's the accent," Jesse offered, mimicking the girl's accent.

"Leon doesn't seem to mind the accent," Letty said, playfully punching Leon on the shoulder. 

Vince smiled to himself. "Yeah, I was picking up on some of **those** vibes."

"You have to admit," the other man said, "the girl has a nice body."

Mia walked over and put her arm around Leon's shoulders. "Dude, she's like fifteen."

"Jailbait," Brian said, causing Vince's smile to widen. After spending seven months with the man down in Mexico, he had come to like him. Somewhat. The roaring of an engine came around the corner and Vince nearly pissed his pants at the sight of Blondie's "pickup."

"Oo," Jesse said in awe. "A monster truck."

And he wasn't kidding; the step to get into the cab of the truck was easily three feet off the ground. Vince watched as Blondie gracefully dropped out of the vehicle to the cement.

"OK, so y'all can just-" She looked over at their cars. "Holy shit, are these all yours?"

"Like 'em?" Dom asked.

"I think she does," Vince found himself saying. He watched as she moved from car to car with a cat-like grace, a wide smile on her face. Thunder clashed in the distance and lightning struck in the sky, lighting up the parking lot, and making everyone jump. "Shouldn't we get going?"

"Yeah. Sorry." She made her way back to her truck and he wondered how long it would take her to climb in. But she surprised him by grabbing hold of the support bar, stepping onto the step, and gracefully swinging herself into the cab.

"What a woman," he heard Jesse mumble to himself.

"I saw her first," Leon said next to him. The two of them regarded each other for a moment.

"I'll fight you for her."

"You'll lose."

"You wish I would," the kid said, puffing out his chest.

"I know you will." Leon, clearly a few inches taller, looked down on the kid, an eyebrow raised in challenge.

Blondie rolled down the window of the truck and leaned out, smiling at all of them. "I hope y'all can drive as fast as those cars look."

"Honey, you have no idea," Dom told her. They all broke from their group and walked to their cars.

"That's good, because I wanna get there before the storm comes in," she said before closing the window and turning the truck back on.

As soon as Vince felt his Maxima purr to life he watched the monster truck shoot out of the parking lot. He muttered a quick "shit" before shifting into first and following the team out. He felt his jaw drop as the truck picked up speed, forcing him to have to shift all the way into fifth. For a truck that size, he knew, it was amazing that it could pick up that much speed.

-----

Dom watched as the pickup turned into a deserted parking lot and drove around a building; he did the same and the team followed. Around the back of the building was a giant opening that he assumed led to an underground parking facility.

"Does this chick think she's going to fit that monster through there?" Brian asked over the two-way. Most of the team answered "no."

His own eyes went wide as the truck went down a slope, just barely missing the overhang. "Holy shit!" Jesse said over the radio. "I am in awe of this girl's skill."

"Just follow her in and park next to her," Dom told them, always the leader. He led the team through the parking complex, following the monster truck that was hard to miss. All of them parked in the far corner of the building and stepped out of the cars. Each of them grabbed a duffle bag from their trucks and gathered in a circle, waiting for Blondie.

The truck door opened, a white shirt – which looked like the one the girl had worn at the bar – fell to the ground, as did a large pile of blond hair. Next a girl with waist-length brown hair, wearing a black sweatshirt, began climbing down from the truck with her back to them. She shut the door, leaned over and picked up the pile on the ground, and stood to face them.

"Hi, y'all," she said, smiling.

"Where'd Blondie go?" Leon asked and Dom nearly laughed out. He had not missed the bantering of his team before they left the bar; the way the team was teasing him.

"I ain't a natural blond," she told them all.

"Is there anything else about you that isn't real?" Vince asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"My name."

"And it is?" Mia asked.

"Davan," she tossed over her shoulder as she walked to a freight elevator. When everyone was inside she pulled the gate shut and pushed the button for the top floor. "So, y'all have names? Or should I just call y'all by numbers for the weekend?"

"I'm Vince," V spoke, sticking out his hand. "You can call me V," he told her as they shook.

"I'm Dom." He also shook hands with the girl. The rest of the introductions were basically the same until she knew everyone's names and they reached the eighth floor.

"Well, it's nice to meet cha'all," she said, lifting the wooden gate and the solid red door that had a square window about eye level. "Welcome to my humble abode."

Dom looked around the giant room, what he guessed was a living room, and whistled. For a waitress at some bar in the middle of Bum-fucked, Egypt, she sure did make good money. The walls were painted cream with paintings that looked like they cost at least a thousand dollars a piece, and the all furniture was made of expensive-looking brown leather. If you could use any word to describe this place...humble wasn't it. 

"This is **your **apartment?" Brian asked, stepping out of the elevator. The rest of the team followed in the same fashion looking around the room as if they had never seen anything like it.

"How can you afford this place on a waitress's salary?" Mia asked skeptically.

Davan looked around the room as if nothing was unusual. "The cap'n bought this place for me and his girlfriend decorated it."

Letty glanced at her questioningly. "What is the captain? Your sugar daddy or something?"

"Nope. He's my dad...sorta." She dropped her pile of clothing and hair on the counter between the kitchen and living room.

-----

"Sorta? Whadda ya mean sorta?" Jesse was really interested to hear how that works. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted an awesome computer set up in the far reaches of the room. He immediately ran over to it and stared in amazement. Computers, math, and engines, that was his heaven. "This is like the computer of all computers! Where did you get this?"

"The cap'n had it specially made for me when I was in school."

"Oh really. What school did you go to? What was your major?" Mia asked, looking away from a picture that hung on the wall.

"I went to UT and I majored in law enforcement." The girl picked up a picture and ran a finger around the frame. "It's a field the cap'n got me into."

"Speaking of the cap'n, yet again, how is he "sorta" your dad?" Dom asked, changing the subject.

"Well, when I was about two n' a half years old I was adopted by the cap'n."

"What happened to your biological parents?" Brian asked. It was the first time he said anything in a while.

"My momma ran away and my daddy went to prison. I was told that family adopted my brother, but a friend of the family adopted me. The cap'n. He took me and ran to Texas."

"Have you ever spoken to your brother since then? Do you even know anything about him?" Leon asked compassionately.

"I haven't spoken to him, but I **do** know that his name was Jesse James Something-Or-Other. I don't know the last name. I have a picture of him right here but that is all I know."

Jesse finally turned away from the computer when he heard this so he could see the picture that she held up. He walked over to her and squinted at the faded picture, trying to get a better look. It was a family photo.

"Aw how cute," he said to no one in particular. He looked up to see everyone staring at him strangely, especially Davan who frowned and stared back at the picture. "Sorry, that sounded wrong.

"Why don't you guys make yourselves comfortable," she said, gesturing around the apartment. "I'ma be right back to show y'all where ya can stay for the weekend," her voice faded out as she disappeared into a room.

"Must really suck to be adopted," Vince said, planting himself on the couch.

-----

"Just leave it be guys. It's her business," Dom said in a no-nonsense tone. As usual the bickering was stopped the second he opened his mouth. That was one of the things Mia loved about her brother: he demanded respect, and those that didn't show it lived to be sorry. The team just sort of wandered around the living room and kitchen waiting for Davan to come back out of the room.

"She's taking forever! Maybe someone should go check if she's all right," Vince suggested and Mia rolled her eyes.

"V, you just wanna go hopin' you can catch her mid-change."

"I'll do it," Letty said with a sigh. The woman disappeared down the same hallway and knocked on the door.

Mia turned around just in time to see Leon put his arm around Jesse. "Hey, I'll fight ya for her," he said. The kid just turned to face his best friend, a horrified look on his face. The next few events happened in slow motion:

Jesse's eyes rolled back into his head and he dropped like dead weight onto the floor. That wasn't a good sign. His medication was supposed to prevent that. Come to think of it, when was the last time he had taken his meds?

"Jesse?" Brian asked, everyone hoping that the kid was just fooling around. "Jesse?"

"What the **Hell** is happening out here?" a Southern voice asked, and Mia turned around to see Davan standing in the hallway.

"I didn't mean to do it," Leon said, looking up from his spot next to Jesse. Under other circumstances she would have found it humorous, but the poor kid was passed out.

"Does someone want to tell me what is happening?" the girl repeated.

When everyone was focused on Davan a voice said, "Gotcha," loud and clear. Mia looked over to see Jesse smiling widely, a self-satisfied look in his eye. "I had you all."

"Jesse," Dom said, in his warning tone, and all the fun went out of it. "When was the last time you took your meds?"

"Come on, Dom, I was just havin' fun," the other man whined.

"Jesse?"

"I haven't takin' them since Wednesday," he told him submissively.

"Jess, come on. It's Friday, man. You tryin' to kill yourself?" Mia asked, immediately digging into her purse and pulling out a fat orange prescription bottle. She opened it up and dropped two pills into Jesse's hands. "Davan, can Jesse have a glass of water?" she asked the girl, who stood in shock watching the team.

"Um, yeah, sure," she said, shaking her head and walking to the kitchen.

-----

"OK, so there's two room down that hall, each has two beds, and there's a bathroom," Davan said and they all nodded. "In the closet outside the room on the right there are blankets for the couch. Let me pull it out for you." The girl walked over, pulled three cushions off of an L shaped couch and threw them to the floor; she then grabbed hold of a metal bar and pulled the bed out from the inside of the couch. After unfolding the mattress, she walked down the hall that held the closet, came back with a pile of blankets, and made the bed. 

"I'll go grab some extra pillows and then you're set," she said walking down the other hallway to where he assumed was her bedroom.

"OK, so you and Mia take to bedroom on the left," Dom said. "Letty and I'll take the one on the right. And you three clowns can share the couch."

Brian and Mia started down the hall to their room; the door was closed. "Oh, I have to use the bathroom," she told him, quickly shutting the bathroom door behind herself. He shook his head and continued walking. Slowly, he reached out and grabbed hold of the doorknob; he wanted to make sure that he could keep a hold of the door so that he wouldn't trip over anything that might be lying on the floor.

He twisted the knob and pushed the door, right next to it was a light switch that did its job well. Of course, that's assuming it was only supposed to dimly light one corner of the room. Brian took his duffle bag into that corner and began changing, peering into the pitch-black corners cautiously.

In the darkness two silver orbs flashed and something growled. "Um, hello?" he called. The orbs and growling grew closer. Brian searched the opposite wall for a switch and quickly flicked it, looking around the now-lit corner. Moving towards him, white fangs showing, crouched and ready to pounce, was a Rottweiler. 

"Nice, doggy," he said quietly. When the thing's growling grew louder he threw caution into the wind. Brian turned on his heel and scurried down the hallway, trying to pull up his pants in the process. 

In the living room, Leon thought it would be funny to block his path: "Where's the fire, dog?" 

Brian thought briefly of the irony in his words. Briefly. "Move out of the **fucking** way!" he shouted, pushing the other man to the side. Then he realized that he had just ran himself straight into a corner. Twisting around, he looked at the dog and pulled his pants up the rest of the way; if he was going to die now, at least he'd die with his pants up. "Uh, does someone wanna go get Davan?" he asked his friends who thought standing there was going to save his life. The dog barked.

"What's going on out here?"

"Your dog is trying to kill me!" he told her, trying to back up even further into the wall. The dog growled and barked excitedly, as if waiting for fresh kill.

"Oh, that's my guard dog. She's dangerous." It jumped up, trying to paw him down.

"I realized that when she tried to bite my balls off." OK, so maybe he was exaggerating, but he had a right to. If some dog was going to end his life, at least he'd leave them all with a story.

"No, she's **dangerous**." It barked.

"Got it! In a corner here. Holding on to life **by a thread**." It growled.

Davan whistled quietly and the dog sat back on her hind legs. Brian turned in time to see her pat her thigh and watch the dog run over to her, butt waving from side to side because it lacked a tail. "Her name," she said as she patted the dog's head, "is Dangerous."

"Aw, look a puppy," Mia said, walking out of the hallway.

"No, Mia don't!" he yelled, stopping her in her tracks. "Don't touch it! It tried to **kill** me."

"No, she didn't," Davan drawled in her Southern accent and smiled. Up until this point he found her accent cute, but now he wanted nothing more than to just have her stop talking all together and take the dog away. Imagine the nerve of her, mocking him when he was so close to death. "She was just trying to say hello. Dangerous, go say hello to the nice man." The dog padded over to him and smiled a doggy smile.

"S'a matter, Bri?" Vince asked, putting his arm around him. "Afraid of a lit'l ol' puppy dog?"

"OK, Dangerous, go say hi to the scruffy looking one," Davan said.

"OK, I'll go sit down now," V said, walking away. Brian imagined he walked away with his tail between his legs...What was with all the dog connections?

"Mia, I think you better go check Brian's diaper now," the girl said, patting her thigh again and laughing to herself. "G'night y'all," she said, walking down the hall, Dangerous in tow.

"Come on, Sweetheart," Mia said, trying to coerce him out of the corner. "The mean ol' puppy is gone."

Brian tossed her a withering glance and practically flew down the other hallway. When his girlfriend was in the room he shut the door and jumped on the bed. "Thank God, it's gone."

"Why are you so afraid of dogs?"

"Well, you know, if a dog **that** size jumped out at you from the dark, you'd just about piss your pants too."

-----

Davan walked into her bedroom and shook her head. It had been a long forty-five minutes. One: she found herself some guests for the weekend. Two: she found that one was on some kind of medication. Three: these people were strange. And four: she smelled like a bar and pancake house.

She looked at her welcoming bed, only to find that she had forgotten to bring out the three extra pillows. In all of Brian's commotion she had dropped everything that she was doing to make sure he was all right. Dangerous jumped up and made herself comfortable at the head of the bed, bunching pillows and blankets together with her front paws.

"Don't think you're staying there all night," she warned the dog, before grabbing the pillows and walking out of her room. In the living room Leon and Jesse sat on the regular part of the couch, that wasn't pulled into a bed, watching TV. "Forgot to bring y'all out the pillows." The two men jumped and looked at her. "Sorry. Don't worry, Dangerous will be sleeping in my room tonight, so she can't come out and **kill** y'all."

"That's a relief," Leon said, flashing her a smile. Truth be told: she definitely found him to be very attractive, if he weren't a stranger spending the night she probably would have acted on that. "Didn't really feel like being ripped apart in my sleep."

Davan dropped the pillows onto the bed and smiled at him. "Dangerous don't bite." She turned on her heel and headed back towards her room. "Good night y'all."

"You OK?" someone asked, making her jump as high as the ceiling. She turned around to see Vince stepping out of the kitchen and into the hallway. He leaned against the doorframe and smiled seductively.

Holding an impassive look, she nodded. "I'm just fine, thanks. G'night."

"Well, if you need one, I'll be your shoulder to cry on. Or nibble on," he mumbled before sipping from a glass of water.

"Not if you were the last warm-blooded creature on Earth," she said, smiling at him. Davan continued to her room, stopping before entering to look at him. Vince still stood where she left him, a lopsided grin on his face. "And that was the **worst **pick-up line I have **ever** heard."

-----

There y'all go, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you think. In other words: **REVIEW!**

~Lit A~


	2. Goodbye

****

Chapter 2

"Goodbye"

Dom stood over the stove and looked at the eggs that were cooking in the pan. He had woken up and decided that it would be nice to have breakfast ready for everyone, including Davan, when they woke up. So now here he was, slaving over a hot stove and enjoying every minute of it. The clock above the microwave read 6:30 and he thought that, maybe, it was a little too early in the morning to get breakfast done.

Of course that was what he thought until he watched Dangerous pad through the hallway towards the elevator door and saw Davan trailing slowly behind her. He heard the gate shut and the girl didn't return. Two eggs, two slices of buttered toast and a couple strips of bacon later she walked into the kitchen and looked around, Dangerous at her heels.

"What are you doin'?" she asked, her brow furrowed.

"I thought you might like some breakfast," he told her, holding out a plate full of food. The girl took the plate, grabbed a fork off of the counter and sat down at the table.

"Thanks, but you didn't have to do that."

"You're letting us stay at your place, it's the least I can do."

Davan fed a strip of bacon to the dog and looked over at him. "So y'all are into cars, I take it?" she asked, making him smile.

"Yeah, maybe just a little," he said. Quickly he made a plate of food for himself and sat down across from her at the table. "We own our own shop back home."

"So y'all work on cars all day?" she asked with interest. "That must be fun."

Dom took a bite of egg and nodded. "It's not boring."

"You guys enjoy car shows?"

"Why?"

Davan stuck a forkful of food into her mouth. "Well, I'm kinda supposed to be going to one today. It's sorta a show-auction type thing. They're usually a lotta fun."

"Feel free to go, we don't want to inconvenience you." Dom smiled at her and waited for it.

"Truth is, Dom, I don't trust y'all enough to leave you alone in my flat," she said, returning the smile.

He chuckled at her and sat back, folding his arms across his chest. "That's all you had to say."

Davan raised her eyebrows at him. "You people are strange."

"You took seven people you've never met before into your home for the weekend," he told her. "You sure you're not the one who's strange?"

"Ain't you never heard of "Southern Hospitality?"" she asked him.

"Yeah, but I didn't think that it was this nice." He took a bite of egg and nodded to himself, taking in their conversation. "So, when is this thing?"

"Starts around ten thirty." The girl looked over at the clock and stood up, taking her plate with her to the sink. "Which gives me enough time to clean up."

"Clean what?"

"This place, it's a mess."

"I'll clean the kitchen after I feed everyone," Dom said, trying not to sound pushy. "I made the mess, I'll clean it. Deal?"

"Deal. But I have to do make the beds and-"

"We all slept in a bed, we can each make it," he said, again trying not to push. It was obvious this girl was used to doing everything by herself. "So, you go make your bed, do what you have to do, then we'll get outta here by whenever you wanna leave. OK?"

The poor girl looked lost as she nodded her head and walked out of the kitchen. "OK."

-----

Vince rolled to the left and smacked his face against the arm of the couch. He groaned and sat up, rubbing his sore cheek while trying to get his bearings. He and Leon had decided to share the pullout, leaving Jesse with the other part of the couch. Stretching, he stood and walked down the hallway into the bathroom. After relieving himself, he found Dom sitting at the kitchen table playing with his food.

"Didn't your momma ever teach you it ain't nice to play with you food?" he asked in a faux Southern accent, sitting across from his friend.

"Didn't your momma ever teach you it ain't polite to stare?" Dom asked, using the same voice and looking up at him.

"How'd you sleep last night?"

"Fine, you?" Vince shrugged and looked at the oven. "Dude," Dom said, "what happened to your face?"

He frowned slightly and glanced at his friend. "Huh?"

"Your cheek is red," Dom said, standing and walking over to the stove.

"Oh. Smacked it against the couch." Vince looked over to see Dangerous sleeping in front of the refrigerator. "So what's going on today?"

"Davan's taking us to a car "show-auction type thing. Look, I'ma get a plate of food ready for you," Dom said, cracking open an egg. "Would you mind waking up the rest of the team?"

"I'll be back," he said before he stood and walked out of the kitchen, into the living room. First he woke up Leon and Jesse, who were still sleeping comfortably on the couch. Once the two of them were up and about, he went into Letty's room. For once she woke up quickly instead of bitching and moaning as she usually did. Letty got right out of bed and walked into the bathroom.

Brian and Mia, he knew, were going to be a little bit harder to wake up, because the two of them slept like rocks. First he knocked, therefore ensuring their privacy; he did not want to walk in on any sexual acts. Second he slowly opened the door, just in case they did not hear the knock they had enough time to yell at him before the door opened all the way. Third, while keeping his eyes squeezed shut, he turned on the lights, flicking all four of the switches on the wall. He peeked at them through one eye and sighed in relief, happy that he hadn't interrupted anything.

But now that he was in the room, he didn't know what to do. How would he wake them up? Vince smiled evilly as a plan came to mind. Damn, he though, he must really hate Brian to be doing what he was about to do. Trying to hold back a bout of laughter that threatened to make its way to the surface, he walked into the hallway.

"Dangerous," he called, keeping his voice low as to not wake the sleeping couple. "Dangerous." He smiled when he heard the dog padding through the flat, her chain collar jingling. Vince knelt down so that the dog could lick his face while he pet her. "Do you wanna wake up your buddy?" The dog's butt shook, for lack of a tail, and she whined excitedly.

He walked back into the room and over to the bed. "Up," he commanded and the dog complied, making her way up the bed between the sleeping couple. When Vince noticed the two starting to stir he walked into the kitchen and ate his breakfast that Dom had made him.

"So when are we goin' to this thing?" he asked, shoving a forkful of eggs into his mouth.

"'Round quarter to ten," Davan said, walking into the kitchen. She moved over to the counter and poured herself a cup of coffee that Dom had made. Vince watched as she looked around the room and frowned. "Where's Dangerous?"

That's when they all heard the scream.

-----

Jesse and Leon practically tripped over each other as they raced the rest of the team down the hall and towards Mia's room. Fearing that Mia might be hurt, Jesse pumped his legs faster hoping to get there in enough time. He loved Mia with all his heart; she was his little sister, he was her guardian. She was the one who reminded him to take his meds; she was the only one who could understand him when he went into ramble mode. She was the glue that held the family together; she had final say, no matter what Dom said.

"Thank you, Dangerous." Her laughter hit him and he frowned, still running at full speed. Mia was sitting on the bed, Dangerous right next to her, licking her face furiously, and Brian stood against the far wall. It was clear now who had screamed.

The team groaned and started back towards where ever it was that they had left. "Brian, has anyone ever told you you scream like a girl?" V asked before turning and walking away.

From the other side of the flat, Davan whistled and the dog froze. The girl whistled again and Dangerous jumped off the bed and ran away. He had to admit it: the dog was trained well. Jesse shook his head and started back towards the kitchen; he needed to talk to Davan.

Mia was like his baby sister; of course the real one had died many years ago. Jakey was his kid sister, the one that he would hide in a closet when his father would come home drunk and violent. The one that he would wake up for every two hours in the middle of the night to feed her because his parents were too lazy. The one that he never told any of his friends about, because the pain of remembering was too unbearable.

Sure, Leon knew about how abusive his father was, about how his mom ran away, and that information was relayed to the team. But he had met Leon when he moved in with his aunt and uncle, and Jakey was never discussed again. Jesse could understand how his friend was upset: nineteen years of friendship and there were secrets.

"Hey, Davan?" he called, catching her alone in the hallway. She turned around and smiled at him. "I wanted to thank you."

"No problem. It's nice to finally have some people around here. We should talk computers, you and I...tell you what," she said, buttoning a flannel shirt over a white 'beater, "why don't you ride with me when we go to the show?" Her fingers suddenly stopped working and she froze. "Wait."

"What's wrong?" he asked, frowning at his sister.

"We won't really be able to talk on the way there," she told him, the same look on her face as when she told them they wouldn't get a room at the inn.

"Why?"

She walked down the hall towards her bedroom, motioning for him to follow. "How do you feel about motorcycles, Jesse?"

A vision of Johnny and Lance Tran carrying uzis flashed in front of his face. "I guess it all depends on who is riding it." He walked into her bedroom hesitantly, taking in the queen-sized bed, with an over-stuffed silver comforter. The room seemed so different from the rest of the apartment. The walls were smoke gray instead of cream and there were no paintings.

"I wouldn't let Cecile anywhere near this room," she said, answering his unasked question.

"Why'd you ask about the cycles?"

Davan reached into her closet and pulled a black leather vest off a hanger. "Well, 'cause I'ma be takin' my toy out to play."

"Oh," he said, somewhat confused by her statement. What toy? "I'm going to go eat and take a shower so that I can get done before everyone else can get in there."

"All right," she said, exiting the room with him.

-----

Letty stood against the back wall of the elevator and looked around at the team. Dom draped his arm over her shoulders and rested his chin on top of her head. It still shocked her to this day, that after all that went down seven months ago, that Dom had become so openly affectionate. When they went out into public he'd hold her hand, tell her he loved her, and kiss her, all things that he had never done before. She even wondered sometimes if he thought that he was going to lose her, which was why he held on so tight.

She though back to the day two years ago when she had walked in on him and Tran's sister in bed. The look in his eyes. He sobered up quickly and his high was immediately lost, and it seemed as if he didn't even know who was in bed with him.

That was the day she snapped. After running out of the house – ignoring Dom and Mia's pleas to come back – and grabbing the baseball bat that stayed by the front door, she climbed on top of Dom's then-brand new RX-7 and smashed in the windshield. The back window was next, followed shortly by all other windows in the car and the hood.

It was the first time that she had ever been that violent outside of a boxing ring, but it felt good. After all of Dom's past betrayal that she had so willingly overlooked without a second thought, his sleeping with a Tran was the last straw. It wasn't until she was done beating the car to death that she went home and slit her wrists.

Vince found her a few seconds later, it was clear that he had followed her, and took her to the emergency room. The team nearly fell apart after that, no one really speaking to Dom for the next week or so. When Letty had finally forgiven him – after much begging, pleading, and groveling – everything was dropped and the whole suicide attempt was forgotten.

"OK, so it'll take about forty-five minutes for us all to get there," Davan said, breaking Letty out of her thoughts. "I won't be hard to miss." Letty eyed the leather vest in the girl's hand wearily.

"I doubt you will," Brian agreed.

The elevator stopped and Davan opened the doors, allowing them all to exit. "Why don't y'all go get in your cars and I'll be right back." The girl turned and ran past the row of cars into the darkness of the building.

"Where's she going?" Letty asked, heading over to her 240SX. 

"To get her toy." Jesse answered with a shrug of his shoulders. As everyone headed to their cars the kid just stood there.

"What toy?" Vince asked.

"Couldn't tell you." An engine revved in the darkness, loud and obnoxious, its sound reverberating throughout the parking complex. A single light sparked to life in the distance and began moving towards them, as the sound of the engine grew closer.

"Why does this sound like this is going to be bad?" Mia asked no one in particular.

"'Cause the only people we know own bikes are Trans," Leon told the group. The light became brighter as it came closer and Letty began to panic.

"Jesse, get into a car now!"

"Which one?" Jesse asked in a panicked voice. He looked around frantically; his ADD obviously deciding now was the best time to make him not think straight.

"Just get in a **goddamn** car! Doesn't **fuckin**g matter which one!" As soon as Jesse moved towards a car the engine stopped and a motorcycle rolled into the light.

Davan shut off the light, dropped the kickstand, and stood off the bike. "Y'all look like you've seen a ghost. Is everyone awe-right?"

"What is that?" Vince asked, walking towards the girl and her bike.

"A nineteen-eighty-five Harley Davidson Sportster Custom twelve-hundred. My pride and joy," she told him, patting the seat. Letty looked over at the Harley: it was silver with blue flames on the side of the tanks and had a black seat, which connected to another one raised higher on the fender. "Y'all ready to go?"

They watched as she switched her flannel for the vest, stuffing the shirt into a black side case and grabbed a small black helmet out of another case. Letty held in her laughter as she read some of the stickers on the girl's helmet.

"Anyone wanna ride?" She asked as they walked to their cars. "You'll have to ride bitch of course, and the ride'll be a little bumpy," Davan drawled as she flashed a grin. "But it'll sure be fun." Everyone looked at each other as she produced a second helmet, one with an equal amount of stickers, and held it out. "Jesse?"

The team looked at the kid as he grinned and accepted the helmet. Davan stepped onto the bike stood it up, kicked up the kickstand, and motioned for her passenger to step on. Letty heard her say something along the lines of "get on, shut up, hold on," before starting the bike up. 

Everyone moved to their cars and followed the girl out of the building.

-----

Davan took off the flannel shirt that she had put on earlier and tied it around her waist. After parking her bike and locking it up, she had switched her vest for the flannel. But two hours later, the sun did nothing but grow warmer and the shirt was making her sweat.

She looked over at the group that had come with her, unsure of what to do. They all seemed like nice people: she got along great with Mia and Letty, Jesse was funny and easy to talk to, Dom was kind but intimidating, Vince kept to himself around her, and Leon was just Leon – she guessed.

Most of the time she tried not to look at him, acted as if she didn't see the looks he tossed her way, and remained impassive when they talked. She had Bryce to worry about. What would he say if he saw her smiling and laughing with another man? Moreover, what would he do?

After laughing at something that Letty had said, she turned and noticed the captain looking at her. Her father had an annoying habit of picking the worst times to want to talk to her. Davan looked back at the group to see Dom holding a CD out to her.

When she gave him a confused look, he asked, "Is it any good?"

"Who is it?" she asked.

Dom read the cover: "Tim McGraw?"

"Yeah, he's awe-right." She glanced at the captain, then back at the group. "Hey, guys? I'm gunna go over there and talk to the cap'n, so I'll be back in, like, five minutes."

"We'll be here."

"Hey, Davan," someone called from behind her.

She turned around and looked at the man. "Bryce? What are you doing here? I thought you had to work."

"I need to talk to you," he said bluntly. Davan moved to give him a hug, but he moved out reach, causing her to frown.

"What's the matter?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

"We need to talk."

When she looked back the team all turned away, giving her a little more privacy. "OK, so talk," she said, motioning with her hands. Immediately she shut down her emotions and listened to her boyfriend. "What's the matter?"

"We need to end this."

"End what?" Davan asked, looking at him and scratching the top of her head.

"We're done, Davan. I think we should break up," he told her, looking around at the people passing by.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"It's not you, it's me. I...I, I just need something else." Bryce spoke to her as if she was a five-year-old.

God, he was so condescending around her. "Well, obviously it's me if you need something else. What's the problem? What is it that you need? I don't understand." All her frustration came through her words, making her voice rise with every statement.

"Look, **Davan**, we're done. I don't wanna see you no more, I don't wanna talk to you. It's **over**," he said bluntly.

"Who is she?" she asked out of curiosity, knowing there had to be another woman. "Do I know her?"

"That is not the point, Davan. The point it: we're done." She smiled, there was definitely another woman, and just by his answer she knew she knew the girl.

"Well, I think you owe me **that** much. Let me know who it is."

"Good-bye, Dav."

"Bye, Bryce. At least you told me the truth...somewhat. Have a nice life." She turned around to see the group staring at her. Frustration and anger controlled the next few minutes. "Hey, Bryce," she called over her should, focusing on the team. 

"Yeah?" he asked, without any emotion.

Davan's smile grew as she looked at all the people looking at her. "One more thing before you go..."

"What?" She balled her hand and spun around, fist flying at his face. "Fu-" He muttered before she connected with his nose and the bone cracked.

She would have gone after him had it not been for Dom and Leon who immediately rushed to grab her. She twisted and bucked against them, quietly asking them to let her go. Telling them she was fine. When she had calmed down enough to plan on just walking away, Bryce stood up in front of her. The two men holding her tightened their grip on her arms as she froze to regard her ex.

He looked at her smugly and wiped at the stream of blood flowing from his nose. Davan stared at him coldly as he smiled and all of her control was thrown into the wind at that moment. Instead of asking Dom and Leon to let her go, she threw her leg straight up, connecting with Bryce's jaw, flipping him to the ground. While Bryce's flying body distracted the guys, she jerked her arms out of their grasps.

"I am **fine**. I don't need anyone holdin' me back," she told them, as the moved to grab her again.

"Excuse me!" an annoying voice yelled. "Hey bitch! You wanna try not hitting my boyfriend? OK, let's not do that!"

"Do **not** start with me, **woman**," she yelled back, turning to face- "Laurena? You've **got** to be kidding me." Davan didn't even wait for the girl to say anything; she just walked right up to her and punched her square in the face.

The captain was there in a heartbeat, grabbing her by the back of her shirt and tossing her to Dom and Leon. "Get your boyfriend and get out of here," he told Laurena after helping her stand up. When the girl was gone he turned back to Davan: "What the **Hell** is wrong with you?"

She smiled at her father. "It seemed like a good idea at the time." She shrugged off the guys again and walked over to Mia and Letty. "I'm gonna go get something to drink, y'all wanna join me?"

Letty's face broke out into a grin and Mia nodded. "Killer idea," Letty said. "Lead the way."

-----

"Hey, Davan!" Someone yelled as soon as they all walked into the makeshift bar.

"How's it going, Carl?" the girl asked, sitting down at the counter. The rest of the team followed suit.

"Good. I heard you finally decked the asshole," the bartender stated, coming to stand in front of them.

"Buy me and my friends a drink?" Leon heard her asked hopefully. He still loved her accent.

"Whadda y'all have?" After they gave their orders he came back shortly with their drinks. "This one's on the house. Only because Davan here finally wizened up."

The group looked at her. "It's a long story," was all she told them. "Don't start on me now, Carl," she told the bartender, smiling.

Dom pulled the guys over to a table, leaving the girls at the bar. "We need to talk."

"What's the problem, bro?" Vince asked, sipping his beer.

Dom did the same and scratched his bald head. "I got a call this morning on our way over here. Jay was able to sell the shop, the diner, and the house, and the merchandise." He looked over at Mia and Letty. "So now we have to decide where our next round's gonna be."

Jesse ran his finger around the rim of his bottle. "Have you told the girls, yet?"

"Yous are the first ones I've told." Dom rubbed a hand over his head and sighed heavily. "They still think we're going home."

"We'll figure this out, Dom. Don't worry, brudda," Vince said, his eyes sliding over the bar, taking everything in.

Leon scratched the back of his neck and frowned. "Well, we'll have to figure it out soon. We leave here tomorrow."

"Maybe we can interest Davan into letting us stay a little longer," Jesse suggested with a shrug of his shoulders. Leon's hope sparked. "She seems pretty cool about having people over."

"I don't wanna put pressure on this girl. In case you didn't notice, she's going through a lot." Dom shot him down.

"We should at least ask her, brudda," Vince added.

"We can do that," Dom agreed. They all sipped their beers and sat in silence. "Let's go back ova there before they think we're talking about them," he told them, standing from the table and walking to the bar.

"Why'd you stay with him, then?" Letty was asking as they came up beside the girls.

"I was a dick," Davan told her. "He kept telling me he loved me, he was sorry, promising that the last girl was absolutely the last one. And I believed him out of sheer stupidity, taking him back every time." The girl swallowed her shot and slammed the glass upside down on the bar. "Guess I just took too much, ya know? Can't handle it no more," she told Letty.

"I know exactly how you feel." Leon watched as Letty eyed Dom wearily. He, in turn, grabbed her right hand and kissed the inside of her wrist. This little interaction caused everyone to remember that day.

Carl, the bartender, poured another shot for Davan and the girl took it, putting her hand over the glass so he wouldn't pour another. "Well, after four years and twelve girls, I guess I had enough."

Twelve girls? Leon looked at the girl sadly, the poor thing. He guessed it must've been something in the female genes, considering what all the other women he's known went through. Letty had to deal with Dom's cheating ass. Mia forgave Brian for lying to them all. And his mother, well, she just kept forgiving his father for all of the abuse. She kept forgiving him right up until the day he beat her to death.

Davan must have felt him looking at her because she turned to him, frowning. The look in her eyes telling him she did not want his pity. Leon mumbled an excuse and went in search of a bathroom.

He walked outside of the building and moved around back to where he saw the restroom arrow pointing. Luckily, there was no line, so he was in and out in a matter of minutes. He scratched absently at the tattoo on his right shoulder as he thought about his mother.

She really was a beautiful person: kind, warm-hearted, gentle, and forgiving. It was the last characteristic that had gotten her killed. He remembered it vividly: he and his mother had just finished arguing because she was going back to his father, yet again. Leon had told her if she wanted to go back it was fine, but this time he would be there to protect her. And he wasn't. He spent the night over Jesse's aunt and uncle's house, receiving word the next morning that his older sister had found their mother dead.

"You awe-right?" he heard someone ask. Leon looked up and found Davan standing above him. That's when he realized that he had sat against the side of the bar and was now holding his head in his hands. She repeated the question, and he smiled at the hint of her accent.

He really needed to stop that; eventually she would start thinking he was some kind of retard. "Yeah. The past just hit me for some reason."

"The past has ways of doing that at the most inopportune times." She nodded knowingly and reached a hand out.

He took the offered hand, and with her help, pulled himself to his feet. "Thanks."

"Your friends were worried about you. I told them that being I knew where the bathrooms were I'd go find you." She gave him a sidelong glance. "The guys looked like they wanted to talk to the ladies, anyways."

"And if I was in the bathroom, would you have come in the get me?" Leon asked her, smiling and trying to change the subject.

"Would you have wanted me to?"

"I just watched you break some guy's nose and probably his jaw. I think I'd have some mixed emotions about that." He scratched the top of his head and grinned. "Fear would probably be one of them. I mean, having you hunt me down in a bathroom, it's a scary thought."

Davan tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry I frighten you." He saw her smile out of the corner of his eye and laughed. His mission was accomplished; he had made her smile. 

Together they walked into the bar and over to the group, most of whom looked very gloomy. "I guess Dom told them," he said to himself.

"Told them what?" she asked, tilting her head up to look at him. He mentally chastised himself, him and his big mouth.

-----

Mia looked over at her brother in shock and shook her head. Now what were they supposed to do? They had no place to live, no place to work, and no place to go. The only thing they had going for them was all the money that they got from selling everything. But that didn't get them a place to live tomorrow. That didn't give them jobs to make money from. What were they supposed to do? How would they live?

"Well what are we going to do, Dom?" she asked him, scared. She hadn't been this scared of the future since her father died and Dominic was taken away six years ago. Their mother had died two years before from leukemia and it had devastated the family, Letty and Vince included. 

First their mother had suffered from fever, chills, and other flu-like symptoms, which was why the doctor didn't notice that it was leukemia. Mia assumed that was what you got for going to a ghetto doctor. Soon she started to lose her appetite and she lost a considerably large amount of weight. Their father had gotten so concerned that he took her to the hospital, where the doctors told them that her lymph nodes, liver, and spleen were all swollen.

He recommended that they see an oncologist and at that time Mia had no idea what that was, but she went with her family the next week when they went to see the doctor. The oncologist did a bone marrow aspiration that he explained would help see what the problem was. Then he ordered that their mother, Emilia, get a spinal tap done and chest x-rays.

It wasn't until two weeks later that their parents decided to tell them that Emilia had leukemia. After a year and a half of treatment, her body stopped responding, and a year later she died. Two years later, Dominic Toretto Sr.'s car was pushed into a wall and blew up. A few months after that, Dominic Toretto Jr. was placed in Lompoc for two years for attempted manslaughter. That was when Mia's world crumbled.

She had just started seventh grade and then suddenly she was left by herself to run the house, garage, and the diner. Luckily, Vince and Letty were around to help out. While she was at school they kept everything going, they even hired Jesse and Leon to work at DT Automotive so that Mia's aunt could run the diner during the day.

But now they didn't have any of that.

"We'll figure it out, Mia, don't worry," Dom told her, placing an arm around her shoulder.

"All we have are the cars and the money, Dominic," she said in her motherly tone, no one argued with that tone. "We have no place to live, no place to go. What the **Hell** were you thinkin?"

"We can't go back there, Mia," he stated bluntly. "We go back there and we're gonna have the cops all over us. At least here we can sort of start fresh." She rolled her eyes and sighed. "We needed to sell everything so that we can get you into college."

She looked over at Davan and Leon who were just re-entering the bar. Maybe the girl could help them out. "Dom, I don't need to go to school. As long as you're not hitting the trucks, I don't need school."

Vince decided that now would be the perfect time to enter the conversation. "Fuck that, Mia. You're the only one in the family that can make something of yourself, you're fucking going to college and med school." Everyone in the group agreed. She still needed to pick up the pieces if someone fell and it was more than likely to happen.

"Where are we going to go, Dom?" Letty asked, pulling Dom over to her barstool and wrapping her arms around his waist. "We need to get a place to stay, and we **need** to get jobs. That money's not going to last us forever you know. Especially if we have to put this **_chica_** through school." That statement just made Mia feel even worse about their situation.

Letty was right, a lot of the money was going to have to go to tuition, because God only knew what kind of scholarships she'd be able to get. Sure she could probably get most of the same scholarships from UCLA, but the tuition there was less because of the fact that she was a resident. Never mind the fact that she would have just moved to the place **and** she missed five months of classes. So she would basically be taking her first year out of high school off before entering college.

"What's the problem?" Davan asked as she and Leon came up to the group.

Brian tightened his already breathtaking grip on Mia and took a deep breath. "You know of any houses or something for sale around here?" he asked the girl and the team frowned at him.

"There's, actually, the flat two floors down is up," she answered.

"That was amazingly easy," Dom said, dully. "Almost too easy."

"It's funny how things work, isn't it?" The girl smiled at all of them and laughed to herself. "Maybe we were supposed to meet."

Mia watched Letty stand from the barstool and walk to Davan. "Are there any people looking into the flat?"

"I have a hold over the owner, you guys want it, you got it."

Letty looked over at Dom: "I'm startin' to really like this _chica_."

"The feeling's mutual, I'm sure."

Suddenly, the grip around Mia's waist tightened even more and she turned to look at Brian. "We need to talk," he whispered in her ear.

-----

It was nine o'clock when Vince pulled his Maxima into the parking spot next to Dom and cut the engine. He got out of the car and watched as Mia stalked after Brian to the elevator. What was up between those two? Trouble in paradise? he thought ruefully. Whatever it was he hoped they broke up; he really did. He wanted Mia and Brian was in his way. As he got into the elevator he realized that Brian and Mia were in separate corners.

"The flat is really nice." Davan was saying as the doors shut. "It has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, a dining room, and a kitchen. Kinda like mine only my fourth bedroom is an office now."

"Sounds kinda homely," Jesse said, leaning against the wall.

The girl smiled at all of them. "Suits me just fine."

"Well we have seven people in our family. Not just one," Vince told her, silently wishing there was only six.

"Well, gee, I didn't know that. I can't count that high, must be the redneck upbringing," she told him. When he looked at her he nearly faltered; she seemed so serious. Man growing up down here must've been tough if you didn't even learn to count to ten. Everyone in the elevator stopped what they were doing. "I was just kiddin'. Y'all need to lighten up," she said before opening the doors and stepping into her flat.

"I could go for a beer right about now," V heard Dom mumble to himself.

"Liquor is in the office," Davan said, walking towards her room. "Anyone wanna help me grab some?"

"I'll go," Leon said, following her. Vince snickered as the other man jogged past him like a puppy trailing its master. Speaking of puppies, he thought, where was Dangerous?

He looked around the living room to see Dom, Jesse, Letty, and Mia sitting down watching TV. Brian on the other hand, seemed to be missing, and V wandered if Dangerous had anything to do with that. Maybe the dog was locked with him in the bedroom, eating his flesh straight off the bone while he begged for mercy. Vince grinned and shook his head, he could only hope.

Now that he thought of it, more over, now that he really looked, Mia did not look too happy. Sure she put on her pseudo-smile and laughed along with her brother, but V had spent many years studying her. She wasn't happy and it was something that the buster did. The snowman was going to get his head busted in as soon as the team found out what the problem was.

It's not that he didn't like the man, hell he hated him with every ounce of his being, but he loved Mia. And it was Vince's love for Mia that made him angrier and meaner.

"So the flat shouldn't be all that bad, right?" Dom asked everyone.

Vince shook himself out of his thoughts. "Yeah, brudda, it should be just fine."

"We come bringing beer." Leon stated as he and Davan walked down the hall, each of them carrying a thirty case of Coors Light.

"It's not Corona, but I wasn't expecting y'all to be picky," Davan told them. "Sorry."

"Somehow we'll deal," Letty said, taking the box from her and putting it on the floor. Leon took the other box into the kitchen and returned empty handed, but Dangerous followed at his heels. 

She obviously wasn't ripping Brian to shreds. Too bad.

"I have to go take Dangerous to do her business. Make yourselves at home," the girl said, grabbing a beer and making her way to the elevator.

"I'll come with you," Jesse told her, doing the same. The two of them, including the dog, disappeared through the doors.

"We're taking the flat," Dom said to the group. 

"If it's anything like this place we'll have more than enough room," Vince stated, before leaning over to whisper to Mia: "You OK?"

She looked over at him and smiled sincerely. "I'm good. Thanks."

He returned the smile and continued talking to Dom. "When Davan comes in, we'll ask if we can see the flat tomorrow. Then the only thing we have to worry about is getting jobs."

"I'm sure there's a garage around here somewhere," Leon said. "If not, we can always start one."

"Thing is...we don't know if there are any racers around here," Letty told the team hesitantly. "I mean, I don't know if you noticed, but basically everyone had a piece of shit truck or a bike."

"Everywhere you go there's going to be races. You just have to know where to look." Dom's statement was the end of the conversation, as it usually was. The decision was final, they were moving in. Everyone sat in silence as they sipped their beers.

"Yup, so I popped my shoulder outta place and bam! There goes my spot for the two-thousands." Davan said as she, Jesse, and Dangerous came back into the flat fifteen minutes later.

The group looked over at the two people. "What "two-thousands"?" Vince asked, raising his eyebrows.

The girl gave a half smile and looked at the floor. "I was once an Olympic hopeful."

"But-?"

"But I got into an accident on my bike, popped my shoulder outta place, and lost my shot at the qualifying round. Would've been an Olympic gymnast if the brakes didn't go on my bike." Finishing the story, she turned at popped open another beer. "I spent seventeen years training and I lost my spot," she said after taking a quick swig from the can.

"We want the flat," Dom said, before anyone else could question the girl.

"Good, I'll take you to see it tomorrow," she told them all with a smile.

"Are there any races around here?" Letty asked the question that was on almost everyone's mind.

"What kind? Like NASCAR?"

"The illegal kind."

"Every Friday night, sometimes Saturdays."

Two down: the flat and the races. They still needed to worry about jobs.

-----

Brian took one last look at Mia and sighed. He knew she was upset, Hell he was upset, but he had a job to do. The team wouldn't understand, which was why he was sneaking out in the middle of the night instead of saying goodbye.

Sure he did love Mia, but, he guessed, not as much as he thought he did. He felt bad, leaving her alone after all these months, but she just didn't understand him. He was a cop; he **was** the **job**. If he weren't back in LA soon he wouldn't know what to do with himself. What was the saying that he had heard?  
  
**Take the cause out of the man, there is no cause left for a man.**  
  
That's the way it was for him: without his job he was nothing. It was obvious to him that Mia just didn't love him enough to go with him. Sadly, he couldn't blame her, the team was her family, and he was just her boyfriend.  
  
Brian grabbed his duffel bag and walked out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. Taking a deep breath, he made his way down the hall, towards the elevator, sneaking past the three sleeping men on the pullout couch. He lifted the red door followed by the wooden gate and stepped onto the elevator that – luckily – was waiting for him. He closed both doors behind him and pressed the button for the parking level.  
  
Dom was going to hunt him down; he knew it was possible. Mia would do her best to keep the team away from California, but there was no sure reason to believe that Dom wouldn't be there shortly after him.  
  
_He was still trying to put together the wiring for the headlights of the Supra. The wires were so thin that he couldn't get a firm grip on them. Someone's eyes were burning a hole into the side of his face and Brian looked over to see   
Dominic staring at him.  
  
"You got big plans tonight?"  
  
Brian nodded. "Yeah, we're going out for dinner."  
  
Dom studied him for few moments. "You break her heart, I'll break your neck."  
  
He shook his head and glanced at Mia. "That's not gonna happen."_  
  
He would miss her and the team; there was no doubt about that. For that short amount of time they were his family, but that was over now. The time had come for him to go home and get back to work.  
  
The team had been cleared of the heists; he had made sure of it. Instead, Johnny Tran, who had died from two fatal gunshot wounds to the chests, was blamed for them. Lance Tran was currently under twenty-four hour surveillance, as was the rest of the Tran crime family. Or so he was told.  
Brian knew that Tran's family, standing members of the Triad, had more than enough money to pay off the authorities. And he also knew that it was already done; the Trans were already off the hook.  
  
The elevator dinged and he opened the doors, stepping out. It was now or never; this was his last chance to turn around and spend the rest of his natural life with Mia. For a second he actually thought about turning around and crawling into bed with her, but their earlier conversation shut him down. She had made it blatantly obvious that if he even considered leaving she would never talk to him again.  
  
With a shake of his head he grabbed his keys and moved to the Supra. This was it. He was leaving behind all that he had known for the past eight or nine months. Oh well, he thought, sitting in the driver's seat.  
  
"Goodbye." Brian whispered before turning on the car and driving away.  
  
-----  
  
There you go folks...leave reviews and you just might get the next chapter. 


	3. We Are Family

****

Chapter Three

We Are Family

Letty stifled a yawn and stretched herself out against Dom's body. She knew it was early, too early, but her body seemed to want to be up and out of bed. So she did as her mind commanded and left the comfort of Dom's side, heading towards the kitchen to get a glass of water.

The flat was quiet and reminded her of back home. Of course that was last year when Mia was still in high school. She remembered coming downstairs first thing in the morning and the kitchen was silent, because none of the guys were awake and Mia was off at school. Letty would sit at the counter and just stare out the back window, watching the birds flying around the back yard. Usually Jesse would be the first one awake after her and he would come and sit with her in silence. 

Looking over, she saw the clock on the microwave read seven-thirty. Man, it really was early. Normally no one woke up that early, not since they went to Mexico anyway. Letty wondered if Davan was awake, because there were some things that she wanted to talk to the girl about. 

Why did they all refer to her as a girl? She was obviously at least twenty-one; she had to be in order to buy beer. Right? Or maybe the captain bought her the alcohol. You never knew with people, not that she was going to pass judgment. Not after all that she had been through.

Getting up from the kitchen table, Letty started down the hall towards the master bedroom and saw that the door was open. "Davan?" she called before hesitantly entering the empty room. No one was in the adjoining bathroom either. So where had she gone? She turned around and walked across the hall to the office door. "Davan?" she called, knocking.

Davan must have gone out or something so she gave up her search. She went back to the kitchen to start some breakfast for herself since she figured it would be a while before anyone woke up.

About a half-hour later, Mia came into the kitchen. Letty could tell by the look on her face that something was wrong. "_Qué pasa, chica_?"

"Brian's gone," she said in a whisper.

"What?"

"All his stuff is gone. He left."

Brian and Davan were both gone? Letty frowned at the thoughts that ran through her head. Why would those two disappear together? That would never happen. Maybe Brian went with her to go pick up some milk or bread or something. Yeah that was it, they went to a store.

"Letty?"

"Yeah, hon?"

"Brian's not coming back," Mia told her, near tears.

"Of course he is, sweetheart," she said, pulling her into a hug. "Him and Davan just went for milk or something."

The other woman gave a coarse laugh before breaking down into tears. "No, they didn't," she said between sobs. "He left last night when we all went to sleep." The last words were drawn out into somewhat of a screech.

"No, Mia, he'll be back. You'll see," Letty told her, unsure of how to handle this situation.

"That's not it at all, Let. He left me, he doesn't love me," Mia said, gripping her tighter. Those were the last audible words spoken before she finally broke down all the way and sobbed on Letty's shoulder.

"Oh man," she grumbled, looking heavenwards. What was she supposed to do? The elevator gate crashed to the floor and Letty sighed in relief; Brian and Davan were finally back. "Come on, Mia. They're back." She began dragging her best friend into the living room. "See?" 

But the only thing she saw was Davan, looking pretty hot and sweaty, and Dangerous, panting like, well, a dog. Where was Brian? Her heart dropped. She had been wrong. What would Mia think now? She began to drag Mia back into the kitchen when she heard Davan ask, "What's wrong? Is she alright?"

"Does she look alright?" she hissed at her.

"Sorry I asked," Davan said, holding up her hands and breathing heavily. Where had that girl been to make her breath so hard?

"Mia, just sit here," she said, sitting the poor girl at the kitchen table. "I'm gonna go have a talk with our...Hey look, V's up. Vince sit with her?" Letty looked at V who seemed still half asleep. "I'm gonna go talk with Davan."

"What's going on?" he asked, scratching his head. One look at Mia and he was wide-awake. "Mia, what's wrong?" Letty heard him ask before she walked out.

She walked down the hall that Davan walked down a little while ago; she needed to have a talk with her. Catching their lovely, **home wrecking** hostess, she slammed her, face first, against the closest wall.

"I'm only going to ask this once, Letty: what the fuck do you think you're doin'?" she asked, turning to face her. 

Letty's hands stayed on the girl's shoulders, keeping her back against the wall. "Where the fuck is Brian?"

"What! You slam me against a **fucking** wall to ask where **Brian** is? How the **Hell** should I know?" Davan placed her own hands on Letty's shoulders and tried to push her back, but she didn't budge. "Letty, I don't want to hurt you so just **let me go**!"

As out of line as she knew she was, Letty still refused to move a muscle. "Where the Hell did you go?"

"I went for a friggin' jog! Is that such a bad thing? I haven't seen Brian since last night," she said, trying to shove her again.

"Bull shit!"

Just then Mia walked in, Vince right next to her with his arm over her shoulders. "Letty! Leave her alone! She really doesn't know where Brian is, because he left, all on his own, and he isn't coming back!"

"Piece of shit!" Vince grumbled.

"What do you mean, Mi?" she asked, still keeping Davan pinned to the wall.

"He left me, Let. That's what I've been trying to tell you. We had a talk last night and he left while everyone was asleep."

Letty looked over at Davan and slowly dropped her hands, smiling apologetically at the pissed look on the other woman's face. "Sorry," she said sheepishly. And she had little time to react to the fist that came flying at her, knocking her to the ground. The girl shook her head in disgust and walked into her room, closing the door behind her. "Did she just hit me?" she asked, her voice cracking on the last word. "Ow."

"Did you just slam her into the wall?" someone's deep voice asked. She looked up to see Dom walking down the hall. He must have been woken up by all the commotion and he looked pissed too. _Oops._

Sheepish was not the word to describe how she was feeling right now. "Maybe," she told him, standing up and dusting herself off.

"So then **maybe** she just hit you."

"And **maybe** you deserved it," Vince said.

"What's the matter with you, Mia?" Dom asked, rubbing a hand over his head.

"The Buster ran out on her," Vince filled in for her.

Automatically, Dom straightened up and growled. "What?"

"Brian's gone, Dom," Mia finally said, taking a deep breath.

"Mia, Letty, you two stay here. V, get Jesse and Leon up, we're hunting that asshole down."

"No, I told him to leave. There is no need for a hunt down, really." Mia said. 

"What are you so upset about then? Why didn't you tell me that this morning?" Letty frowned at her best friend. She had just assaulted the one person that was giving them shelter and food, for nothing. If Mia wouldn't have left out those few details she wouldn't have shoved Davan into a wall and she wouldn't have gotten socked in the jaw.

"I couldn't get it out. Sorry. It's not like I wanted him to leave. He just made it clear that he was going back to LA and I refused to go with him. So I told him to get out, because I didn't want to be around someone who wanted me to even consider leaving my family behind."

-----

Leon shook the sleep out of his head and stood from the couch. He looked around and decided to go where all the noise was. What was going on down the hall? Slowly, he came up beside most of the team - Jesse was still sleeping - and frowned. Why did V have his arm around Mia? And why was Mia allowing V to have his arm around her?

"What's going on?" he asked, pulling at the collar of his shirt and scratching his collarbone.

"Long story," Dom said, turning to face him. "Go get Jess up, we're having breakfast and showering.

"I'm first for the shower," Letty spoke up, pushing her way past them.

"Woe, Let, what the Hell happened to your face?"

She sighed and continued walking down the hall, throwing her hands into the air in a frustrated manner. "Davan clocked her," Dom filled him in.

Leon frowned and shook his head. "Why?"

"She smashed her into the wall."

"Why?"

"She thought that she and Brian had, well, you know-"

"Why?"

"The Buster left and Davan went for a jog."

"Why?"

"Because she wanted to?"

"No," he said, holding his hands up. "I mean, why'd the Buster leave?"

"Mia told him to."

"Why?" Things were starting to get weird. Starting? he asked himself. Things were always weird.

Dom shrugged his shoulders and offered a half-smile. "She just did."

"Now, was that such a long story? I don't think so," he told him, walking back down the hall to wake Jesse. "Hey, dude, get up," he said, smacking his best friend upside the head.

Jesse turned his back to him and mumbled in his sleep. "Lemme alone."

"Come on, dude. Dom said everyone had to be up."

"Go away," he said, flailing his arm in the air and succeeding in smacking Leon across the face.

"I'm tellin' Dom on you," he said in his best eight-year-old voice.

"I'm up, I'm up," Jesse said, hitting him with his pillow.

Leon shook his head and walked into the dining room, hoping to find a nice big bowl of Cheerios waiting for him at the table. Instead he received toast with butter and jam. "Man," he whined, "why is it never Cheerios?"

"Because you never go out and buy Cheerios." Vince said from his seat next to Mia; Leon smiled. His friend must be in heaven, being able to be so close to Mia. It was no secret that V loved her, everyone knew it, and now that Brian was out of the picture he could go back to his "Mia watching" as the guys jokingly called his intense staring sessions.

"Hey! Mia's the one who does the shopping."

"Good morning everyone," Jesse said brightly, bouncing into the room, but coming to a complete halt when noticing everyone's mood. He looked left to right and sighed heavily. "Who died?" Leon called him over to sit at the table next to him and told him everything that had happened. "Well, I can see why you are all like this then...is that toast!" They all gave Jesse looks like he said something wrong. Leon didn't think Jesse realized what he said.

Davan walked into the room, a towel thrown over her shoulder. "My shower is open. Y'all are welcome to use it if you'd like." 

"That's your private bathroom, no one's going to use it," Dom said, his tone saying there was to be no questions.

"You guys have an hour to get ready to see the apartment and, well with the way things are going, I don't see that y'all are gonna be ready by then," she told him. "So, someone or a few people, I don't care how you do it, can use my shower. So, no arguments." 

When no one made a move to take her up on her offer, Davan walked over to Mia. "Mia, come on, let's go get you under some water. It'll help you relax." Mia nodded and stood from the chair, Vince following suit. "Vince, it's OK, I'll take care of her," the girl said, gently prying V's arm from her shoulder.

While the two girls disappeared from sight, Dom walked out to go "help Letty with her shower." Leon cringed at where that statement took his mind; that was something that he never again wanted to think about.

"Alright, Vince, she's asking for you," Davan said, walking into the dining room a few minutes later. "Just make her stay in the shower for a little while longer, the bath water will help her relax." The girl pulled Vince aside and the two of them spoke quietly to each other, before he turned and walked to the master bathroom.

Leon and Jesse looked at each other as she poured herself a bowl of cereal. "See, now why do you get to have the cereal?" Leon teased, trying to lighten the mood.

"I own and furnish this place, I think I should be able to have my choice of food," she told him, sitting across from him at the table. "You want cereal?"

"You have Cheerios?" he asked hopefully.

"Top cabinet, second to the right from the stove."

Leon stood from the table, barely catching the chair before it hit the floor, and ran for the cabinet. "Cheerios!"

"Does he normally get this excited over Cheerios?"

"You just made his millennium," Jesse told her.

"Hey!" Leon sat back down with his new bowl of Cheerios. "I do, on occasion, get excited about Cheerios. But there are other things that excite me," he said, throwing a smile to Davan.

"Quarters, pens, cars, baseball, computers..." Jesse kept his list going, while Leon stopped smiling and concentrated on his Cheerios. Leave it to his best friend to totally miss a crude joke.

"Thanks, Jess," he grumbled.

"No problem." The kid looked over at the girl. "Hey, Dav, can I check out your computer?"

"Yeah, sure. Have fun."

Leon turned to her as soon as Jesse left the room; she looked back at him and smiled. "What cha eatin'?" he asked.

She laughed and shook her head. "Unfortunately, I don't get as excited about Cheerios as you do. Therefore, I am eating Frosted Flakes with strawberries."

"What? Did you have to make up for the frosted part with the strawberries so it was still healthy?" he asked jokingly.

"Yea, that is precisely it. The fact that I just like strawberries has nothing to do with it at all," she said sarcastically.

"Cheerios are healthy, and you don't even need the strawberries."

"I know." Davan looked at him through half closed eyes. "Have you ever tried Frosted Flakes with strawberries?"

"No. Why?"

She lifted her spoon, some Frosted Flakes and a bit of strawberry, and smiled at him. "Try some."

"Why?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Because, I put poison in it and I want you to die. Because I put razor blades in the strawberries and I want you to bleed to death from the inside out. Just try some." She pushed the spoon towards him.

"Well, if that is what you want, I guess I could try some." He opened his mouth and she stuck it in. "Mmmmmm," he said, licking his lips. "That's good. And I'm not dead or bleeding." Leon looked over to see her trying to hide a laugh behind her hand. "What? What'd I do?"

"You have a little milk right here," she said, motioning with her hand where the milk would be.

He swiped the back of his hand across his face and smiled. "Did I get it?"

"No," she choked out before laughing again. "Not at all. In fact, you completely missed," Davan drawled in her ever-so cute accent. All right, truth was: he was smitten with her.

"Well, get it off!" He shrieked playfully and flailed his arms, while leaning across the table towards her.

Davan laughed out and reached for a napkin. She lifted her hand, but dropped it back down due to laughter. "Well, stop moving and I can get it." Finally, she was able to hold back long enough to lean forward and dab his face. "See, you cooperate and it gets done," she said, still trying not to laugh.

"Hey! You weren't the one with milk on your face."

"Well if I was," she started, sitting back in her seat, "I wouldn't have screamed and flailed my arms like a sissy."

Leon looked around the dining room. "Is this floor easy to clean?" he asked, smiling evilly.

"Yeah," she told him hesitantly. "Why?"

He answered her with a spoonful of milk to the face. Davan stared at him in shock as he smiled brightly at her and waved with his empty hand. "Hi."

"Did you just toss milk at me?" she asked, wiping her face with a napkin. He smiled. "You just tossed milk at me. I cannot believe this!"

"I didn't mean to do it. The spoon was there, then there was milk, then it was all bad." He tried his hardest to hold back his laughter. Leon couldn't hold it back any longer when a spoonful of milk and soggy Frosted Flakes smacked against his face. "That was harsh."

"That's what you get. I can't believe you tossed milk at me." That Southern accent got him every time. Leon smiled apologetically through the milk and cereal.

"I just wanted to see if you would flail and screech, but you didn't. I'm proud of you." He told her before picking up a spoonful of milk and Cheerios and lobbing it across the table to hit her on the chest.

"OK, you know what!"

"What?"

"This means **war**!" she said, flinging more cereal at him.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Milk's away!" he exclaimed, lifting his spoon high above his head.

"Huh?"

-----

Jesse walked in just as Davan was dumping a bowl of cereal on Leon's head. "Come on now! I leave you two alone for one minute and this is what I come back to? Look at the mess you made! After you two are done scrubbing the walls with toothbrushes, that's right, **toothbrushes**, you are punished for the rest of the day and are not allowed out of your rooms." His statement was met by two very surprised and a little embarrassed looks.

"It was all her fault, Jess," Leon said, speaking through the milk that ran down his face. "She started it!"

"Is this true, Davan?" he asked, pinning her with his most serious face.

"Sure, blame the person with the empty bowl."

"Well, that's kinda easy to do when the bowl is on **my head**!" Leon told her, the milk that was streaming down his face, flew everywhere when he spoke.

"What is this? Seriously, you too are acting like five-year-olds. Can't take you nowhere," Jesse said with a shake of his head. "I want you two to start cleaning this mess before Dom-"

"What the **Hell** happened **here**?" Dom's voice boomed from behind him.

He turned around to their fearless leader standing behind him; Jess smiled. "It was **all** them. I just walked in, dude. Notice the cleanness."

He turned to face his best friend and their host. Davan looked at Leon, and he back at her. "It was him!" "It was her!" they said at the same time, simultaneously pointing at each other.

"I swear, can't take you two nowhere," Dom said, sighing and walking back out of the room. Jesse started to follow him out of the dining room, back towards the computer, but Dom stopped him with his next statement. "Jess, you get to help them clean up!"

"Dammit!" He turned and headed back into the other room. "OK, where are the toothbrushes?"

"I'll go get some towels," Davan said, standing from the table.

"Sure, take as long as you like... You're just saying that, because you hope that we'll have it all clean by the time you come back," Leon whined.

"Right, because it'll take me two hours to walk to the closet and get some towels. And you two are gonna what? Suck up the cereal and milk with what? Your mouths?"

"You'd be surprised what my mouth can do," Leon said, a sly smile on his face.

Jesse decided it was time to break that flirting mode. "It can eat, talk, whine, sing, laugh, shout, spit, drink, drool..."

"Thanks, Jess, again."

"Hey, what's a best friend for?" he asked as Davan walked out of the room. Leon answered him with a punch to the shoulder. "Ow! That is **not** what a best friend is for!"

"Oops, sorry. You looked like a punching bag for a sec-" Jess saw his best friend frozen for some unknown reason and turned around to see Davan walking back in the dining room with only her bra on. "Uba-dala-aduh-uuu..."

"I'm sorry, should I go get a shirt? I hoped you two wouldn't mind because my flannel was just way too wet to wear and I will go get a shirt and-"

"Uh...NO! Wait! If you wanna get-I mean we are fine-I mean, however you are comfortable and-"

"Tongue-tied is not a good color on ya, Leon," Letty teased. "And what is with all this milk and cereal all over the place? What were you all doing in here?"

Jesse saw Davan cross her arms over herself when Letty walked in. "It wasn't me! For the last time I had nothing to do with this! Look at them! It is all their faults!" he exclaimed defensively. 

"What wasn't you? What's going on? Can someone tell me what happened?"

"Well, Jesse went to go on the computer and me and Davan were talking, and then milk ended up flying, and cereal and it was all bad. Bad, bad, bad, bad..." he rambled on and on like the Rain Man. "Then Jess came in and, and Dom told us to clean up, and, and Davan went to get towels and came back shirt- without- and with only-" Leon just kept on rambling.

"I see." Letty gave Leon a strange look. "I guess I'll leave you to your cleaning then," she said, turning around and leaving them all behind her.

Jesse, Leon, and Davan each exchanged smiles before Leon went on: "Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad." He looked at Davan and shook his head. "Without the, the shirt, the bra- Oh bad."

She looked back at him and shook her head, laughing. "OK, I'm gonna get a shirt now. Will you please tell the Rain Man to calm down?" she asked Jesse, walking out of the room.

With a quick sigh he walked over to his best friend, who was grinning like an idiot, and slapped him upside the head. "Real suave, Casanova."

That seemed to bust him out of his alternate reality. "I'm sorry...was Davan just shirtless?"

"No! Dude, don't even think of her like that!" he exclaimed, slapping him again. Having someone think sexually of their hostess might not be too good.

"Ow!" He finally came back to the real world. "I'm gonna start cleaning now. It's gonna take me a while to get that picture outta my head. Not that I want to," he added with a smirk.

With another smack upside the head, Jesse said, "Come on, dude. She's putting a roof over our heads." Sure, he barely knew the girl, but still. And he did not want to hear about his best friend's fantasies that involve her.

"Will you stop smacking me!" he shouted, rubbing his head. "I'm done talking about your beloved new best friend - that you've know for all of a couple days – that way!" Leon finished wiping the table and moved to the nearest wall. When Jesse flashed him a hurt look, he added, "Dude, I was only kidding. I mean, yeah, I'm done, but I was only joking about the friend thing and... well, yeah."

"I'm going away now. I'm going back to the computer," he told him, walking out just as Davan was walking back in. "Nice shirt," he said, leaving the doorway.

Jesse sat down at the desk. He was checking out all the updated software on computer when he noticed a picture in the hallway. He decided to go look at it, but halfway there he heard Dom's voice from the next room.

"Is the dining room clean already?"

"No!"

"Go help them!"

"Yes, sir!" He saluted the wall and turned on his heels, high-tailing it for the dining room, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw what was happening. "Aw! Come on!" he shouted as he turned away. "What was the point of Davan putting on a shirt?"

Jess walked over and placed his head against the far wall, opposite the room. Gross! Seeing Leon with his hands up the girl's back, while making out against a corner was not something he wanted to **ever** do again. This morning was just not going right.

"Is everything strategically placed?" he called out hopefully.

"Yes!" Davan answered and he could hear the smile in her words.

He pushed off the wall and walked into the room, seeing the entire room as if there was never a food fight. "Well then, you two are done! Done!" He pointed at them. "You're not allowed near each other for the rest of the day! With the table... and the hands... and the- it was just all wrong. Don't **ever** let me see that again! My best friend and my sister! Nasty!"

"What was that about table and hands?" Vince asked, finally reappearing after Mia's bath that Jesse assumed was done. Wait! Was V's hair wet? What was going on with everyone?

"I'm going to shower, because everything is all bad, wrong, and **nasty**!" he said, walking towards the guest bathroom. Silently he prayed that he wouldn't walk in on Dom and Letty **doing** anything.

-----

Mia was glad that Vince was there to pick up her pieces. It felt nice to have someone finally doing that for her. He came into the bathroom just as she began to cry again and everything just went downhill from there. He stripped down to his boxers, actually all he had to do was take off his shirt, and climbed into the giant bathtub with her and just held her as she cried.

Why was it that after all the years she had ignored him and shut him down, why was he still there for her? Vince probably knew more about her than she knew about herself. But was that a good thing or a bad thing? She felt bad when he told her to confide in him, because she knew some of the things that were said hurt him. Still, he sat and listened, passing no judgment.

At one point during her bath-crying session she had kissed him, expecting him to kiss her back. Mia would have been perfectly content having sex with him to forget all her troubles for a little while, but no. Vince had gently pushed her away, saying that he knew she didn't really want to have sex with him. He had waited so many years and a few more months were not going to kill him. He was willing to wait until she was ready to be with him.

Mia thought that at that moment she fell in love with Vince. Maybe it was just her emotions playing tricks on her, but being away from Brian made her realize how much Vince really meant to her.

The flat was just as nice as Davan had said it was, but not as done up as hers. All the rooms could use a good touching up and they were going to need new furniture, but it was no big deal. If she liked this place, they were getting it; Dom would do whatever she wanted. It was just the way things were around the family; no matter what, it was truly her that everyone needed approval from.

And she liked the place, a lot. And she liked Davan, too, so maybe, just maybe, they had found their new home. All they needed was to get a garage started and they were all set. Just walking around the flat gave her a sense of starting over. Ideas of how to decorate came to mind and she smiled. Yup, everything was going to be fine.

"So what do you think?" Dom asked, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"I think we found a home," she said, smiling over at the owner. "Have you gotten any offers?"

"No, and I don't plan on it. If you folks want it you go it."

"You would do that?"

"I would do anything for Davan," he said with a shrug. "She was such a big help when my wife was sick."

"Well, Mister Thatcher," Dom said. "Why don't you and I go talk business?"

The two men disappeared into the kitchen to "talk business" and Mia continued her tour, Vince close behind. She wondered if he planned on ever leaving her side sometime soon. Not that she was complaining...much.

"Hey, this is a nice dining room," she said, sitting next to the rest of the team at the table. She still had yet to see Davan's dining room. "Thank you," she said when Davan poured her a glass of iced tea. "So you were close to the Thatcher family?"

"Whenever the cap'n had to go away on business, I would stay with the Thatchers. Their son, Simon, was my best friend, but I haven't talked to nor seen him in years."

"Why not?"

"He was shipped overseas after basic."

"What exactly is the captain's business?" Vince asked, sitting down next to her. Mia took a sip of her drink.

"The cap'n is a... I don't know how to put this... he's a bounty hunter." Davan looked around the table. "It's really good money."

"I could imagine," Jesse said. "And have you ever-?"

"I've gone on business with him before. It's very time consuming, but it's worth all the money."

"Ever done it by yourself?" Vince asked.

"Once or twice when mom was sick."

"Did you have fun?"

"The whole gun aspect was nice. Anyway, you guys like the place?"

Mia looked around the room and nodded. "Yeah. It isn't any different than yours." She looked over at V, and assuming that he had talked to Dom, asked, "What are we doing after this?"

"We are going to an authentic Southern steakhouse."

Letty cleared her throat and everyone looked at her. "Davan," she said quietly, "I wanted to apologize about this morning."

"I didn't kill you, did I?" the other woman asked.

"No."

"Then we're cool. No harm, no fowl," she said with a shrug. "Anybody else want some more tea?"

"Wait! Just like that? We're cool?"

"Let me put it this way, Letty. If I was really, completely and utterly **pissed off**...I would have done more than just knock you on your **ass** with a clean punch."

"It was a sucker punch," Letty said, rubbing her chin. Mia smiled at her best friend's childish ways.

"It wasn't a sucker punch, you were looking right at me. You just weren't expecting it," Davan said, again shrugging her shoulders. The rest of the people around the table began laughing. "Now we're even."

"OK."

"I'll have more tea, please," Leon said, downing the last of his drink.

"You're not going to toss it at me, right?" the girl asked.

"I'll be good, I promise."

Jesse groaned and Mia frowned. What was going on? "Let's keep Mister Thatcher's dining room clean. OK you two?" he asked, causing mostly everyone to smile.

"I don't get it," she said, making the rest of them start laughing. "I missed it, didn't I?"

"Yes. And I can't bear to have it repeated."

"Davan and Leon got into a hot and heavy food fight," Letty filled her in.

"Hot and heavy?" she questioned, looking over at Davan.

The girl tilted her head to the side and raised a single eyebrow as Leon said, "It got a little outta hand."

"Oh?"

"I got a bowl of cereal dumped on my head."

"He started it, Mia," Davan told her.

"Children," Jess sighed. "I'm currently scarred for life, let's not discuss it anymore."

"Really, Jess, his hands weren't up my shirt. The shirt just rode up in all the commotion."

"What?" Mia asked, choking on her iced tea. Had she missed that much?

"I'm going to use the restroom. Excuse me," Davan said, standing and leaving the room while trying to hide that blush that crept up her face.

Everyone turned to look at Leon who had his head down and suddenly found the top of the table very interesting. "Could you all please stop staring at me? I can feel your eyes on me." He lifted his head and smiled at them. "It's very impolite to stare, you know?"

Shock was definitely the words to express why Mia was smiling like an idiot now. She knew she looked like an idiot smiling the way she was, but who really cared. Leon was someone who rarely ever got involved with girls, sure he had had his fair share of women hanging on him at their parties, but he had not done anything with them.

For the first few months that she had known him, Mia questioned his sexual preferences, but then they talked. He told her that he wasn't interested in the "who can sleep with the most chicks" contest that most guys had; he was just looking for someone to be comfortable with. Leon had sworn her to secrecy, making her promise not to tell anyone about his revelations. And the fact that he had been caught kissing Davan was a big deal. He had serious feelings for this girl and Mia was happy for him.

Her smile grew. She didn't even know he was attracted to her. She was going to have to get her intuition radar fixed.

-----

"Turn left up here," Davan told Leon, sitting forward in her seat. She was still trying to get used to Leon's backwards car. The Skyline. And it was yellow nonetheless. What guy gets his car painted yellow? Maybe it was a California thing.

"Where?" he asked and she answered by pointing to the street. "Got it."

"Good," she said. "Did you enjoy our fine Southern cuisine?" she asked, turning to Jesse who sat in the back seat.

"It's nothing I haven't had before."

"It was a joke, Jess." Davan smiled at him and shook her head, turning to face forward.

They had just left the steakhouse a half-hour ago, and now she was leading them to a club. Against her better judgment she agreed to take them to celebrate, knowing that she would have to be up early in the morning to take care of Benjy.

Benjy was Simon Thatcher's three-year-old son that she took care of during the week while Simon's wife, Elizabeth, went to work. Sometimes the kid was a perfect little angel, other times he was a handful. And most times that he was a handful was when she was hung-over. But she had yet to mention that she took care of little Thatcher, therefore, they talked her into going to the club.

But they would sorely pay for that, because Davan McAlester and clubs do not mix very well. She tried her hardest to avoid clubs, due to the fact that almost every time she went to one there was always a fight including her. And though fights were fun, coming home to have to ice bruised knuckles or to have to stitch yourself back together was not fun.

"What kind of club is this place?" Leon asked as he turned down the street. "No country music and shit, right?"

"What? You didn't want to go to a line dance?" she asked, looking over at him.

"You're fucking kidding me. Please tell me you're kidding me."

"I'm kidding." Davan smiled at him. "We do have some kick ass clubs around here, that do, on occasion, play country." Leon looked over at her in horror. "But this isn't one of them," she quickly added. "This is a night club. Most of the street racers hang out here."

Jesse leaned forward from the back seat and sighed. "Thank God, our own people."

She turned and looked out her window, frowning at the desert that flew by. Many of the people there knew who she was, Bryce had taken her there a few times, they knew she was Bryce's girl. And most of those people knew that Bryce had cheated on her, maybe they even knew that they had broken up. But the problem was that most of those people were spies for him. Davan did not want any trouble because she was showing up with a new guy and crew.

"Fuck it," she muttered, rolling her eyes. What did she care what happened? Bryce was a dick. And she was dressed for trouble. Hell, when they asked if she would show them some clubs after they went to dinner, Davan knew exactly where she was taking them.

Which was why she put on her favorite leather pants and matching tube top that was hidden under a tan suede T-shirt. Yeah, that was her trouble outfit. It allowed her to dance freely and show more than enough skin, but it also allowed enough movement so that if it came down to it she could kick ass.

"Fuck what?" Leon asked from beside her.

"I'm sorry?"

"You said, "fuck it." I was just wondering what was getting fucked."

"Nothing." She shook her head and forced a smile. "Turn right into this parking lot." He did as he was told and they parked next to a long line of show cars, in front of a rundown building.

"This is it?" Dom asked when they all stepped out of their cars.

"The party's not outside, it's inside," she said, leading the way to a solid steal door. After knocking, she waited for the tiny rectangle to open so that she could talk to someone. "It's Davan McAlester," she told the pair of eyes that peered through the door. "They're with me," Davan told the doorman when he opened the door for them.

Together the seven of them walked through the narrow halls of the building until they came to another steel door. Quickly Davan pulled it aside, allowing the club noises to filter through the building. The team started down a case of narrow, winding stairs that you could easily trip and break your neck on, only to be greeted by a large factory-sized room jam-packed full of people.

"This is really loud!" Mia shouted to the group.

What exactly was she expecting? Davan thought. "Yeah! I'm heading over to the bar! Anyone want a drink!"

"I'll come with you!" Leon shouted back, smiling and following her towards the bar. Together the two of them stood against the counter and waited for someone to come and ask them what they wanted. Finally, the bartender came and nodded at them. "I'll have a beer."

"I don't want anything," Davan told the guy, causing Leon to frown at her. "I just wanted to get you alone," she said to him.

"We're not really alone."

"No, but we are away from your friends."

"This is true," he agreed, taking his bottle of beer off of the bar. "So, why did you want to get me alone?"

"You dance?"

Leon drank some of his beer and looked over at her, his brow furrowed. "I spaz."

She smiled at him and shook her head. "You can't be **that** bad."

"I'm not, I just don't like to dance. Ever since I was at this one club back in LA and they asked me if I was having a seizure." He ended his statement with a sad look. Puppy dog eyes.

"Are you serious?"

"Hell no." He took another sip of his beer. "But I don't want to dance. I'll stand in some far off corner and watch you like a stalker."

"Kill joy." She tossed over her shoulder as she left him standing at the bar.

Davan stepped onto the dance floor and felt herself get pulled in one direction. Ah, the fun of clubs, she thought as she started dancing with some random guy. As the song ended she smiled slightly at the guy and excused herself, making a beeline for the table that the team was sitting at. 

"Hold something for me?" she asked Leon, smiling sweetly.

"What?" he questioned hesitantly. Davan took this as her opportunity to reveal one of the many sides to her. The fun side. She grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head, tossing it at Leon and revealing her black, leather tube top. 

"This." She looked over at Mia and Letty who were staring wide-eyed at her. "You two wanna come dance?"

"OK." Letty said as her and Mia stood from the table.

Soon the three of them were off in the middle of the dance floor, having the time of their lives. Actually, Davan wasn't sure about the other two, but she was enjoying herself and they looked as if they were doing the same. Not too far into the dance she felt someone behind her grinding. She figured it might be Leon so she turned around. To her despair it was not, in fact, the guy wasn't even someone she would ever consider dancing with.

He was wearing a white wife-beater that he had rolled up to right below his chest, revealing all of his many rolls. And he had on baggy pants that he found no need to wear underwear underneath, therefore that sagged to about an inch below where his butt-crack started.

The guy smiled at her and winked as Davan tried her hardest not to laugh in his face. She desperately wished that Leon was there to save her. Instead, he was off sitting with the guys in some far-off corner staring at her as if he was a stalker.

"Hey, look," Letty whispered in her ear. "It's Crackman! The Girly Man that makes you wonder!" With that went all of her self-control, sending her into a bout of hysterical laughter, Letty and Mia joining in with her.

Crackman heard them laughing and began to cackle himself, obviously not realizing that they were laughing at him, not **with **him. "Crackman," he repeated, clearly he had heard Letty, but still did not understand that Crackman was in fact him.

Mia grabbed the both of them by their arms and pulled them away from the man. "Come on, Mia. We was just about to make fun of him to his face some more," Letty said, a smile plastered to her face. "Hey, Dom," she said as they came up to the table in the far-off corner. "Come dance with me."

Davan could see that there was no room for argument when it came to the two of them dancing. It was especially obvious when Dominic jumped right out of his chair and trailed after her like a little puppy.

"V?" Mia asked sweetly. "Dance with me?" The same could be said for Vince that was said for Dominic, leaving Davan alone with Leon.

"Where'd Jesse go?" she asked, looking around for the lost member of the team.

"He disappeared as soon as we got into the club. Ran off to dance with some chick."

"Is my shirt safe?" He answered by holding up the folded t-shirt. "Thank you. Hey can I have a sip of your beer?" she asked, indicating to the bottle on the table.

"Finish it, there's only a sip left," he told her, holding out the bottle for her.

"Thank you." As she drank the last of the beer, Davan surveyed her surroundings and watched as Crackman walked by her, tossing an over-exaggerated wink her way. "Save me," she said, sitting next to Leon.

"What's the matter?" he questioned, leaning towards her.

"There's this guy who keeps walking around and winking at me." She looked over at him with an exasperated look on her face. "And if he does it one more time I swear I'm gonna clock him."

"How am I supposed to save you?"

"Well you see that guy over there?" she asked, pointing to Crackman.

"Yeah. So?"

Davan turned to him, there faces mere inches apart. She smiled. "When you see him look over here or come near here, maybe you can put your arm around me or something?"

"He's looking now. What should I do?" he asked her, a hint of teasing in his voice.

"I dunno somethi-" Leon cut her off with a kiss. It started off soft and sweet, but slowly developed into a real kiss. "That'll work," she said breathlessly as they broke apart.

"Thought it would," he agreed, nodding.

"Dance with me," she ordered, standing and holding out her hand. When he didn't move she added: "It's not a request." At this he finally stood and grinned.

-----

"Did you just see what I just saw?" Letty asked him, a wide smile on her face.

"Letty," he warned, returning the smile. Of course he had seen it. Leon and Davan had just kissed and now both Mia and Letty were grinning like idiots. What was with chicks smiling when other people kissed? His girlfriend answered by rubbing her butt against his crotch as they danced.

"Come on, Dom. Lemme have my fun. When was the last time you saw Leon kiss a girl?"

He spun her around to face him, a sly grin on his face. "When was the last time you kissed me?"

She lifted her eyebrows. "Hours ago."

"That's too long then," he said before capturing her mouth with his. With that done, he publicly announced his availability to all the women that had thrown looks his way. He was not available.

"Everything's going to be OK, right, Dom?" she asked when the kiss ended.

"Everything is going to work out just fine, baby. Don't worry." Dom looked over to see Mia and Vince dancing to his left and Jesse and some girl dancing to his right. "Everything is going to be just fine."

Suddenly he caught a flash of Leon's jersey and Dom turned his head to follow his friend. Leon and Davan were grinding happily together when some man who had obviously never heard of such thing at a belt or girdle came up and started rubbing up on Davan. Dom assumed that Leon would take care of the matter then they'd have to jet outta the club as fast as possible. But the next few turn of events made him wonder about their hostess and Leon's current love interest.

The girl turned around and looked at– "Is that Crackman?" Letty whispered.

"Who?"

"Crackman, the girly man that makes you wonder. He's the reason we came and got you guys to begin with."

"Oh. I see." He turned and continued watching the scene unfolding before him.

Crackman, as Letty had called him, made some comment to Davan, which Leon looked as though he was going to correct. But the problem was that Davan already had the guy on the ground before Leon even lifted a finger. Shaking his head, Dom motioned for the rest of the team to follow him.

Unfortunately, when they reached the fight, security guards had the girl in their grasps and were pulling her off the dance floor. Leon followed closely behind, the rest of the team a few seconds away. Dom was really starting to wonder about this girl.

First she breaks her ex-boyfriend's nose, possibly his jaw. Then she punches said ex's new girlfriend. Next she knocks Letty down. Now she was taking on some rhino that couldn't dress for the life of him. Davan had to be more than just some Olympic hopeful.

"OK, that's it. This girl is getting checked out," Vince said from behind him. "Jesse, tomorrow morning you're getting on you laptop and pulling up as much info on her as possible."

"Done."

"Everything alright, Leon?" Dom asked as he came up beside his friend.

"Yup."

"I promise. That was it. That was my one fight for the night. No more, I promise," Davan said, smiling at one of the guards.

"Come on, Davan, you know that's not true," the taller of the two said.

"Yes, but you love me, which is why you are going to let me stay, right?" When the guard didn't answer she said, "I promise. Please?"

"Last time you said that you busted a beer bottle over someone's head."

"Oh he so totally deserved it." She smiled. "Look, I brought new people in."

"Hey, don't bring us into your trouble, Davan," Dom said, shaking his head. 

"We should get going anyway, Davan. It's late and we have to start looking for jobs," Vince told them all with a quick glance at his watch.

"He's right. We should move out."

"Alright, alright. I see that I am entirely out numbered here. You are **all** kill joys and I am going **home**," the girl said, hopping off of her bar stool.

The rest of the team followed her as she proceeded to lead them over the club's dance floor and to the deadly stairs. After they all managed to make it up the stairs with their lives they walked to the cars. Only to be stopped by some other cars going out of their way to stop in front of them.

Who were these people? And why were they being dicks?

"Davan, who are these people?" some guy asked, getting out of a souped up, black Dodge Colt. After a closer look, Dom realized that that guy was none other than Bryce.

"Friends Bryce. Why the **fuck** should you care?" Davan asked in a tired voice.

"I'd just like to know who my girl is hanging out with," Bryce drawled in his disgusting Southern accent.

"Your girl, Bryce?"

"That's right. My girl."

"No, see, I'm not doing this now. I promised Bruse, the security guard, that I already had my one fight for the night." Dom watched as she moved towards Leon's car but stopped, scratching her nose. "By the way, Bryce, how's the nose?"

"Broke. Sorta."

"Sorta? And the jaw?"

"Who are the people, Davan!"

"OK, that's enough." Dom finally stepped in. "Dav, let's get into the cars and go home."

"Who the **Hell** are you?"

"Someone who's gonna kick your ass if you don't get the fuck outta our way."

"Dom, let's just go." Letty, who was usually the first one to jump into a fight, started pulling on his arm. "We don't need any trouble right now. And that asshole's not worth it."

"She's right, brudda. Let's just motor before things get outta hand," Vince agreed.

"Yeah, suddenly, home seems like a good idea," Davan said. "Though things became outta hand when he referred to me as his girl."

Dom sighed and moved along with Letty, only to stop when the rest of the people in the last three cars stepped out. If there was going to be a rumble, it was going to be now.

"OK, we don't need this shit!" Davan yelled, causing all attention to go to her. "Bryce, take your rat pack of a team and go in the fucking club. When you're ready to be mature maybe, just **maybe**, we'll talk. Go!" Neither Bryce nor is team made a move. "Move!" The dipshits got the hint and started walking, leaving Bryce alone with their team.

"Davan," the guy said plaintively. "I want you back."

"Let's get in the car now," Dom told everyone as the girl ran a hand through her hair. The team left Davan alone with Bryce.

"Hey, Dom, he can't do that," Letty said as they sat in his car. "She's with Leon now, he can't do that."

"That's a decision she's gonna hafta make on her own," he told her, glancing over at Leon's Skyline. Wait! Was Jesse in the back seat with some girl? Oh yeah, this was going to be fun.

"I'm going out there to kick this guy's ass."

"Letty, sit down and behave."

"I'm happy, Bryce! I'm having the fucking time of my life! And it **doesn't** involve you!" Dom heard Davan scream as she walked past his car to get into Leon's. "Deal with it!"

Fun.

-----

Vince felt Mia lean against him as they all crowded into the elevator. Everything about her touching him was driving him crazy. The mere thought of the two of them in the tub this morning was making him insane. He knew it was stupid to turn her down, Hell he had been waiting for that moment for quite some time.

But this morning just wasn't the time. Unfortunately, he was man enough to realize this. Stupid him. Why couldn't he be like other guys and think with his dick? He had heard that that was fun. Dom had done it on numerous occasions, but look where that got him.

His RX-7 had all its windows smashed in and Letty slit her wrists. Not one of Vince's fondest memories. Finding Letty in her bathtub a few seconds after she had done the deed was horrifying. Especially when fought with him about going to the emergency room. She had screamed at him, telling him to let her die, she needed to die, and he was an asshole for caring. Then proceeded to curse him in Spanish, many of the words he understood, some – he was sure – he did not want to understand.

Going to the emergency room was not fun. Being Letty was bleeding they took her away and made him answer the questions. And telling a bunch of strangers why one of his best friends had slit her wrists was not easy. But all that mattered was that Letty was OK...

Wait, he was off track. Thinking with his dick... Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. He loved Mia too much to take advantage of her, though she seemed to be the one throwing herself at him this morning. Had she not been getting over a major heartbreak, he would be the first person to jump in bed with her, but not now.

Mia leaned her head back to rest on his chest and he realized just then how short she was. Her head only came up to his shoulders.

"Sleepy?" he asked, leaning down to speak in her ear.

"Mm-hmm," she mumbled back to him.

"You're going right to sleep, missy. No staying up to watch TV."

"Sleep with me tonight?" she whispered and he nodded, glancing cautiously at Dom.

"You all right, Mia?" his best friend asked, looking a little bothered.

"I'm fine, Dom. V just makes an excellent cushion."

"A cushion?" Vince asked her.

"Yeah, 'cause you know? You sew and stuff the fabric with cotton, a cushion. You showed me the one you made the other day, remember?"

"You sew, V?" Dom asked.

"You know me, man. Multitalented." Vince placed his right hand on Mia's hip so that Dom wouldn't see and gave her a squeeze. "I try to keep my talents hidden from the likes of you people. Don't like the mocking and all."

"Here we are," Davan said, lifting the big iron doors. Oops, he had forgotten that other people were actually in the elevator. Must've been the Mia touchage.

They all stepped out of the elevator and Dom was saying, "Hey Jess, are you going to introduce everyone to this girl?"

"Oh, yeah, everyone, this is um...what is your name? I don't think you told me," Jesse said, turning to the redhead. It was obvious that he had had a few too many drinks while at the club. And alcohol and his ADD was not a good combination on Jesse.

"My name is April."

"Guys this is April, April this is guys," he said, motioning towards Dom. 

Definitely not a good combination.

"Hi, Guys, I'm April," she said, speaking to Dom. "What are all y'all's names?" she asked the rest of them. This girl was obviously drunk, too.

"April, do you have any family you can call?" Davan asked with a shake of her head.

Vince looked on in shock as the girl proceeded to sing instead of answer. "We are family. I got all my sisters with me." He tried not to laugh as April began to dance or, more like, have a seizure, swinging her head from side to side and her arms up and down.

"Um, are you OK, hon? Do you need to lie down?"

"We are family. I got all my sisters with me. Yes, we are family. Get up everybody and sing!"

"OK, I'm beat, if this chick doesn't cool it, I'm gonna knock her on her ass," Letty said, wrapping her arms around Dom's waist. Or most recently known as Guys's waist. Dom said good night to everyone and the two of them left the living room.

"Can I sleep with someone else tonight?" Leon asked in a panicked voice. "I'll share the floor with myself, I just don't want to have to be by those two for the night."

Suddenly another voice joined in on April's solo. "We are family. I got all my sisters with me," Jesse sang, moving basically the same way as April.

"You can share Dangerous's side of the bed," Davan said, walking towards her room, Leon trailing slowly behind her. "But she is a bed hog."

"We are family. I got all my sisters with me. We are family. Get up everybody and sing!"

"Mia, why don't you and I go to bed before they get us singing it," Vince said, steering Mia down the hall. Quickly the two of them got ready for sleep and crawled under the blankets of the twin-sized bed.

As Mia curled up against him, Vince heard her mumble, "We are family. I got all my sisters with me."

Oh brother.

---------

I did not mean to get your hopes up, those of you who were hoping for chapter 4. I was merely re-doing chapters 1 through 3, because Jesse and Davan will no longer be brother and sister. For those who are still waiting for an update, it will be here within the next two weeks. Sorry about the delay.

AN: Just so you know: Crackman is a real person. I ran into him once at my local convenience store and I don't wish to repeat it.

AN: A question actually... Can someone explain to me what Hot Pants are? I'm at a total loss, especially when I read stories that contain people wearing hot pants and booty shorts... In the words of one of my favorite characters: "It's just all wrong."

Thanks all. Review please.


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